i'm speaking today with matt doors and say he is a filmmaker and traveler and
also director of d p_r_k_ the land of whispers this is of course the
documentary that matt made
traveling in north korea on that really great to talk to that so many questions
for you this is great
and thanks for having the that did talking to you as well
so question number one is people we're going to provide the winter
documentaries for people to take a look at it
one of the most interesting things about your documentary that's different about
a lot of the others i've seen is that
you didn't see into north korea under some kind of false pretenses you
actually went to north korea on a type of travel group that most people i talk
to you don't even realizes the possibilities of explained that a little
bit
that's true actually hello a lot of projects like similar defend with north
korea
uh... dignity to believe that it's so extremely difficult to get into the
country books on the truth is that it's actually
uh... it's quite easy to enter north korea industry because they've
restricted yourself troubling is that we were independently if you're willing to
pay
a whole lot of money on your constitutional juries by uh... by
several tour guides
lawyer
supposedly perhaps a little bit more that word that's really important you
make sure you only see was useful to see and that's the interest
and uh... attempting to book a trip like that it's it's extremely easy to get
them out the traveling to paris really be its ups and email he sent a copy of
your passport to the company
and um... they handle everything else you really have to be what else
so
i mean the the thing is that journalists are not allowed to enter north korea
so some of your company state to get around the sneak in and they need to you
anyway and it's not
so if people watch the documentary uh... what how how long were you in the
country
uh... total from start to finish and i think i think that might be something
people don't realize from looking at the length of the documentary
sir i mean i was the last three or four for ten days between police
ten or eleven ten days and i believe
uh... although most of the time
uh... really it's union as i mentioned the film loved a lot of the time was
spent simply traveling and that song that's a part of the annoyances of the
district that has attracted sexually
it's actually quite boring because nothing ever happens you're taken from
from the train to the busted into the plain to the hotel and so on
player here comes the really held in isolation and a sheltered
uh...
but uh... but the experience of visiting
country like north korea is of course about people
you had in different moments during a documentary
u_n_ situations where somebody who one of your hand was one of your tour guides
would get upset with you either because
you were filming the wrong thing or talking to the wrong person or asking
questions that they didn't like
and you kind of seemed to laugh it off in your year narration that you did
after the filming of the movie
now obviously when you were narrating after the fact that you knew you work
actually going to get in trouble because it had been already chaps but when this
was happening
did you take it seriously i mean we just heard about an individual who now is
potentially could have to spend fifteen years in a north korean president
producer on uh... up unpatriotic activities or something like that
how worried about it were in the day today
i mean defendants uh...
in the film it might seem like a
really did things against the guys but the truth is that i never really you
know i never really broke any any rules i was always very open about about my
filming i always have my kids are the guy who sent and uh... people
representing the company to to view my footage that you want pictures
i was very open about what i was flowing out there's a few times when days more
than a few times really want to trust me down candidates always talk about the
camera which i did so as you see in the film in other snippets when i got to
know maybe twenty thirty seconds obs certain image before i told me to do to
turn our camera and one of those restrictions you talked about this might
be interesting i think in the audience
talk about some of those varies specific rules that they have to for example
uh... you mentioned where if you're photographing any image
of any of the the great leaders
the photograph has to be taken hal what are the restrictions
here you have to take uh... just issued the entire energy cannot be a close-up
and he'd like to see me right now but close up shots this will be distributed
crankiness correa
you
can get a shot like that have uh... any image austerity appears to have to shoot
the entire image from from choose to to the top of their head
cannot cut and part of the image in addition to that past shots on
from a low angle so buchanan's look down on them pretty much you have to be after
she'd holliman's from from allegro that's burglars visor
um... they review leaders also in addition to that
there's a number of other rules for example of you cannot disrespect
newspapers and north korea
uh... there was apparently tourist in the past story that i overheard were who
had a newspaper and she wrapped accused for one of its tour guides that
newspaper
and that's because starr others
that cause the kind of trouble for instance you write an apology letter to
the peer leaders themselves before being allowed out of the country so so they
didn't think they did seriously
uh... so this really gets to a question that my producers and i talk about all
the time went on to the north korea
which is
the individuals who were giving will talk first about your guides and then
maybe more broadly about the the people there but
the people that we're giving you these restrictions and and pat me on making
sure that you follow these rules
you spent quite a bit of time with them
is your sense that they're doing they're making you comply with these rules are
trying to make you comply
out of them honest sense that this is what's correct
or is it more out of
fear that they know this they'll get in trouble they don't do this in other
words
where they bought into the idea that is really disrespectful not to film the
entire dear leader
or were they doing it out of i've car
out of routine or out of necessity
and it's uh... it's a difficult question because that's a question that julie
everybody whether the traveler justice to do anything you want anything about
north korea everybody else themselves this question to basically
indian people really believe that this
this p_l_o_ leader you know if he is really believe that this reality that
they live in or isn't just fear or something but they're afraid of him
to be honest i don't have a a very good and say you know i can tell you my
personal feelings and i do think that uh... that's
one of my main guide site definitely think that he was false for his country
would teach
that he really didn't believed that everything that she was saying was true
but then
are you aware it's you know some things here and there nothing over specific but
i overheard that he did have some doubts uh... about it than i had another tour
guide who was uh...
was a little bit more open with me and so on
and you know i cannot say for sure it never send course never said anything
about this country will still be proud of everything
uh... violates but he was more curious about about in the end of the western
world and you're going to need that was a little sign of
into yasu used in the country it's so close minded and it's so closed off
so to me that was a sign that perhaps you know he he was considering what may
be out there and and actually a lot of the north koreans mostly guides because
mostly that's the people you interact with uh...
i heard from several people that's if yes then the question of if they had the
chance to meet north korea to travel anywhere where would you gallons
eleven
say first first place they would like to visit would be the united states
actually and so i mean i i think that they're definitely curious about the
outside world songs
by some
but also the piece that we got the interacted with and idea and i'm quite
sure that day
that they believe what they're saying as well halogenated it manifests itself
during your trip this fact that for example there's a couple of things one
where
there is it's either a bartender or waitress who gets to play around with
and i'd pat i think it is and she's just fascinated by the tax return the aipac
and another point one of your guys has a similar kind of like drying happen on a
mobile phone
and these things were just incredible to that end
is it is it's similar buddhist talk about that a little bit i mean we keep
for example i was just thinking today
about someone who committed a crime in our area
as many spending twenty years in prison
and i was just kind of thinking of imagine when they get out of prison all
the things that will have happened
cities socially culturally technologically
that they just won't understand
compare that i mean is it in a sense like being in prison to be in north
korea
uh... in the sense of isolation from world culture
c_n_n_'s imagined a song title compared to being in prison where compared to his
uh...
is uh... hardcore religious calls that's really what it feels like it's a colt
with uh... the cult leader hides uh...
for him and total grant under people
and they have no outside exposure to warships this guy over there and for the
interests of poor told stern tire life what is what is black and one is widely
even though you might disagree with that but if the entire year or two entire
society everything you know supports
whatever their job was being true than the president of the leaders
and uh...
to go back to the uh... to the wage was that you mentioned i do need to be one
of the whole purpose
um...
a waitress schools for just a few words of english just enough to to serve
drinks and sense of saxophonist who's in there
and uh... again one of the tourists are ahead of time leads and she and she she
was mesmerized by a dying breed words and some other technical gamestats
it reminded me of of the moment when i got my first intended when it was a kid
girls just completely completely excited about it and his procedures have alluded
a little bit you know kind of a bad things of north korea
do you look anyone house you're traveling with
even tried to ask guides about
the oppression the malnutrition and starvation the work camps
or was it kind of understood that nothing good was going to come of asking
those questions as they open their eyes
you know i was stands trying to be as often as possible with my asked them
about snow
for example to they helped him violent attack north korea himself and i don't
think that wasn't doesn't cut two thousand eleven
well that was made up his hands-on
uh... i mean bottom line asking about about political events asking about
somtime dot all those things that the west talks about
i get the feeling that set out to the north korean city don't have an answer
for tickets for foreigners so
unless the relevant and don't give me the answer that's that's that their
basically
costume inserted foreigners and that is really does not make a whole lot of
sense because it just uses a lot of uh...
a lot of propaganda ish words it's talks about two dozen parity with dogs and
south korean puppets in this and i put the since it doesn't really say anything
and you know you can't really to try to get them to to acknowledge your point of
view and sometimes some things i thought that they did
even get my point of view
um...
but they simply don't know how to answer in the room the realization that i came
to the point i'm trying to get to is that uh...
that i think in this country people are notes people are not talks to reason
they're not talks to you
to think about it we
uh... they're simply
tossed what to say what to do you how to think so mean giving them a reasonable
arguments
or you know any other visitor form here that's that's just the reasonable
argument they might agree with that argument but today i am they've never
been present at the department had never had responded this way k and uh... and
they only have the one incident date for atlanta and their own use and so on
don't really believe that for the stalled to other things i wanted to ask
you about how in the last couple of minutes we have here one
with her any point at all at which you felt in any kind of of danger or
vulnerability i guess might be a better term you travel north korea's stays safe
contrary to what you
many people may think that you're not going to try and do not think you can
get kidnapped here constantly e
you know skeletons protected from everything i think in the habit
i mean i felt
i felt angry a lot of the time so i felt annoying to have the time so i feel
depressed a lot of the times after many days i was just emotionally exhausted
and feeling absolutely helpless
uh...
blood sport never really felt like i was in any in any danger anything like that
i mean it seemed like
it seemed right
the tour guides just trying to get to me
through their country tried to get me through the trip through that experience
as quickly as possible trying to make sure that i see as little as possible
and they just
there's going to see if i just want to get rid of me just interject on and and
and move on
uh... how risky how was the food
as i've heard
conflicting accounts about food in north korea
you know the food was very simple was nothing it was nothing to radio bottles
uh... it was nothing
nothing great sound but in the same time
you know it's a country that's that's faces starvation malnutrition mold
nobody really knows what that would be issuers
uh... so in a certain sense dictate what i was given it was never hungry or
anything so that's that's not a problem but they were definitely saving food
anything that was not was
was taken away supposedly to her you know maybe to to to to to take for
themselves or even to serve to someone else i'm not sure
alone but begins with
i've been speaking with matters are sick filmmaker traveler director of d p_r_k_
the land of whispers
well of course uh... let everybody know how to find the the the film excellent
excellent working and what's your next project we can watch out for
uh... might just got back from the uh... from delivery mold speech and house and
it's in the north vietnam in the border which i know there is a unique uh...
defended uh... local ethnic minorities hold every year it's uh... principles i
a lot more kids
which is a pretty cool events where the ethnic minority couples uh... split up
from their spouse it's once a year and a we go to this event and seek other ex
lovers to spend some time with the children color huh
want to spend the night with and then the next day they go back to their to
their daily life so i was just filling the project i got back just a couple
days ago
and uh... that will probably still take me a couple months the to finish the
added but uh... but that's the next that's the next are working on
are designed fantastic we're looking forward to it really thanks a lot for
taking time i know it's eleven hours later where you are in a different kind
of uh... different schedules schedule uh... uh... gymnastics to get this to
happen but thanks so much
thank you very much