MY HOMETOWN MEANS THE SEA

A SHORT PIECE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST ABOUT NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR EUN-JEONG OH. IN AN INTERVIEW BY ANNA FIFIELD, EUN-JEONG OH DESCRIBES HER LIFE IN NORTH KOREA AND THE EXPERIENCES THAT SHAPED HER JOURNEY.

EUN-JEONG OH EXPLAINS THAT HER FATHER WORKED AS A SAILOR AND STRUGGLED WITH ALCOHOL, YET SHE STILL REMEMBERS A HAPPY CHILDHOOD. SHE SWAM IN THE SEA EVERY MORNING AND AFTER SCHOOL, AND SHE RECALLS HOW THE SALT DRIED WHITE ON HER FOREHEAD. LATER, HER LIFE SHIFTED AS HER MOTHER LEFT AND HER FATHER DIED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. HER YOUNGER SISTER MOVED TO LIVE WITH THEIR GRANDMOTHER, WHILE SHE REMAINED ALONE IN THE FAMILY HOME. EVENTUALLY, IN 2009, SHE ESCAPED NORTH KOREA TO SEEK A NEW FUTURE.

IN THE NORTH, SHE HAD READ ONLY ONE TORN NOVEL SHE BORROWED FROM A NEIGHBOR, BUT EVERYTHING CHANGED AFTER SHE ARRIVED IN SOUTH KOREA. SHE BEGAN READING CONSTANTLY AND, AT COLLEGE, DISCOVERED A LITERATURE PROFESSOR WHO INSPIRED HER THROUGH HIS EMOTIONAL APPROACH TO TEACHING. DURING THIS TIME, SHE OFTEN WROTE SHORT NOTES ON HER PHONE. SOON SHE REALIZED THAT THESE LINES WERE POEMS. HER FIRST BOOK, “CALLING HOME,” APPEARED IN 2015. AS HER WORK REACHED MORE READERS, SHE SPOKE ON TELEVISION AND GAVE PUBLIC READINGS, WHICH LED TO FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES. MANY OF HER POEMS REFLECT LIFE IN NORTH KOREA, YET SHE ALSO REMEMBERS MOMENTS OF JOY AND BELIEVES THAT, DESPITE HARDSHIP, HUMANITY REMAINS THE SAME.

THE WASHINGTON POST COMMISSIONED ME THROUGH MY PRODUCTION COMPANY CONTENTED TO HANDLE PRODUCTION AND TO WORK AS DIRECTOR AND CINEMATOGRAPHER. THE SHOOT TOOK PLACE ON JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA, WHERE WE FOLLOWED EUN-JEONG OH’S STORY AND CAPTURED HOW HER MEMORIES CONTINUE TO SHAPE HER LIFE TODAY.

DIRECTOR

NILS CLAUSS

PRODUCTION

A WASHINGTON POST PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH CONTENTED