THE FILMMAKERS
Madeleine Gavin
Director/ Editor
Madeleine Gavin is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has edited award-winning
narrative and documentary films that have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Berlinale, and Cannes, among others. Madeleine directed and edited Beyond Utopia, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it received the Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film has gone on to receive multiple awards, including a duPont-Columbia Journalism Award. It was shortlisted for the Oscars, and is currently nominated for a BAFTA. Prior to her work on Beyond Utopia, Madeleine directed and edited the Netflix Original Documentary, City of Joy, which follows a group of women at a revolutionary leadership center in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Madeleine is currently in production on a film that follows an indomitable group of octogenarians in New York City who, while facing debilitating illnesses, are finding transcendence through their relationship with an irascible, larger-than-life music coach. Madeleine is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Jana Edelbaum
Producer
Jana Edelbaum is an Emmy Award winning producer and founder of Ideal Partners, a television and film production company in NYC. Previous productions include documentaries House of Z for Netflix, Waiting for Hockney for Channel 4 and Sundance, and narrative films Strange Weather, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and Netflix, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, released by Lionsgate before being nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Humanitas Award, Idina Menzel: Which Way To The Stage? for Disney+, among numerous others. Select current projects include The Librarians directed by Kim Snyder, a biopic about iconic choreographer Alvin Ailey written and directed by Barry Jenkins with Fox Searchlight, and TV series Nestora in development with Blumhouse and AMC Studios.
Rachel Cohen
Producer
Rachel Cohen is an independent film producer based in New York and, since 2007, head of production at Ideal Partners. Current projects include: a feature film biopic about iconic choreographer, Alvin Ailey, directed by Barry Jenkins and distributed by Searchlight; The Librarians, a feature documentary about the destructive book banning in Texas, directed by Kim Snyder; a drama series based on a New Yorker article in development with AMC and produced with Blumhouse TV; a comedy series inspired by the life of fashion designer, Peter Som. Previous projects include House of Z; Strange Weather; The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete; Dirty Girl. Prior to Ideal, Rachel was SVP of Development and Production at Tribeca Productions, and before that she spent seven years at Artisan Entertainment as SVP Development and Acquisitions where she spearheaded the acquisition of The Blair Witch Project.
Sue Mi Terry
Producer
Dr. Sue Mi Terry is one of the world’s leading experts on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia, with extensive experience in intelligence, policymaking, academia, and think tanks. She has served as a Senior Analyst at the CIA, Director of Korea, Japan and Oceanic Affairs at the National Security Council under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council, and National Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Since leaving the government, Dr. Terry has been the Director of the Asia program and the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and senior research scholar at Columbia University. She is a regular guest on television, radio and podcasts, and a former MSNBC commentator.
THE FILM PARTICIPANTS
Pastor Seungeun Kim
Pastor, Human Rights Activist
Pastor Kim is a prominent human rights advocate and the head of Caleb Mission, a Christian church based in South Korea. He passionately serves North Korean defectors and works tirelessly on their behalf, rescuing and helping them become self-sufficient. By working in support of improved international and South Korean laws, he also advocates for homeless North Korean orphans who have fled the country. Pastor Kim has gained international recognition for his work with a modern-day “underground railroad” that has helped rescue over 1,000 defectors since 2000. Pastor Kim’s faith and commitment to social justice for North Koreans continue to inspire people around the world.
Soyeon Lee
North Korean Defector & Activist
Soyeon Lee was born and raised in Hoeryŏng, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. After serving as a sergeant in the North Korean Army, she defected and settled in South Korea. Since then, she focuses on publicizing the horrific human rights situation in North Korea by appearing on TV and lectures on the Republic of Korea's Armed Forces, and serves as a representative of an NGO "New Korea Women's Union," that helps North Korean women defectors settle in South Korea. After the son she tried to rescue in 2019 was repatriated to North Korea and his life and death were unknown, she continued a long fight against the North Korean regime to find her son.
Hyeonseo Lee
North Korean Defector, Author & Activist
Hyeonseo Lee is a North Korean defector living in Seoul, South Korea. Her memoir, The Girl with Seven Names – A North Korean Defector’s Story, has been published in 26 languages in 33 countries. In August 2016, her memoir was added to the list of New York Times Best Sellers. Over 28 million people have viewed her TED Talk (including the cross-posting on Youtube) about her life in North Korea, her escape to China and struggle to bring her family to freedom. Oprah called it, “The most riveting Ted Talk ever.” Hyeonseo has given testimony about North Korean human rights in front of a special panel of the UN Security Council in 2014 and also discussed North Korean human rights issues with president Donald Trump in 2018 at the White House.
Hyeonseo has written articles for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. She has also been interviewed by TIME, BBC, CNN, Reuters, AP, AFP, NYT, FOX, CBS, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Glamour magazine and countless other television, newspaper and radio outlets throughout the world.
The Roh Family
Sunok Park, Jinpyeong Roh, Jinhae Roh, Yeongbok Woo, and Younggil Roh
The Roh family consists of an 80 year old grandmother, a husband and wife and their two young daughters. Upon learning that they are on a government watch-list and facing banishment (certain death), the group of five embark on a treacherous journey through five countries, on a quest to save themselves and to live free.