An Open Letter to Independent Lens about “Beyond Utopia”
Deann Borshay Liem, Independent Filmmaker·
Publicity still from “Beyond Utopia”The following letter was sent to Lois Vossen, Executive Producer at Independent Lens, regarding the documentary Beyond Utopia, on January 7, 2024. We have updated this post with Lois Vossen’s responses on January 9th and 17th and our responses on January 13th and 23rd.
Dear Lois,
We are writing about the documentary Beyond Utopia, which is opening the new season of Independent Lens. As documentarians, we have traveled to North Korea many times. We have made films about the un-ended Korean War, the division of the Korean peninsula, and the effects of these devastating events on Koreans in the diaspora. Over the past two decades, our work has focused on combating stereotypes and historical erasure and bringing nuance and humanity to those living on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
We are concerned that Beyond Utopia presents an unbalanced and inaccurate narrative about Korean history and North Korean society. While the film’s verité sequences of the Roh and Lee families’ plight are compelling, noticeably lacking is any mention of the ongoing impact of the Korean War and U.S. policies that have destabilized the livelihood and well-being of North Korea’s people — factors that cause families like the Rohs and Lees to leave the country.
While an armistice stopped the fighting in 1953, a peace treaty was never signed. North and South Korea, as well as North Korea and the United States, are still at war. Ongoing hostilities have resulted in the hyper-militarization of North and South Korea and the remilitarization of Japan, threatening to engulf the region in renewed fighting. These factors contribute to North Korea’s siege mentality, nuclear weapons development, and the economic hardships faced by the civilian population.
U.S.-led sanctions underpin the difficult economic conditions portrayed in the film. North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. Dr. Kee Park of the Harvard University Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, a neurosurgeon who has trained doctors and regularly performed surgeries in North Korea, calls these sanctions “warfare without bullets.”
In this context, the film’s sequence about North Koreans coveting human waste is simply callous. Other countries also use human waste as a fertilizer and for the production of methane gas. In the case of North Korea, sanctions severely limit the country’s capacity to import oil, fertilizer, and even spare parts to run farm equipment. In the absence of this information, the sequence promotes derision rather than empathy for the plight of ordinary people struggling to get by with extremely scarce resources.
We are also concerned that the film’s factual imprecisions obscure events that are critical for understanding Korean history. For example, the film’s narrator explains that “At the end of World War II when Japan surrendered, they lost the empire that they had been building. Part of the settlement deal was that Korea was split.” By inferring that the division of Korea was a term of Japan’s surrender (which it was not), this language erases the role of the U.S. in dividing Korea. In an effort to prevent the USSR from occupying the entire peninsula, the U.S. proposed (and the Soviets agreed) to divide Korea at the 38th parallel to disarm Japanese forces. The division was solidified by the founding of two separate states in 1948.
Similarly, the film portrays the Korean War as an international effort led by a “UN force containing soldiers from 21 different countries.” Lost is the fact that of these countries, the United States comprised 99.7 percent of the international force, totaling 5.7 million military and support personnel. The U.S. led the war effort and continues to be the only foreign presence with military bases on the Korean peninsula.
We also have questions about the power dynamics in the filmmaking process between the filmmaker, the crew, the pastor, and the defectors. Unequal power relations undergird these rescue activities in which defectors are entirely reliant upon brokers, missionaries, smugglers, and others for food, shelter, and security. In what ways did the filmmakers take advantage of, benefit from, and contribute to these unequal power relations and vulnerabilities? This dynamic is alluded to in the film itself as Pastor Kim directs the Roh family as to how they should film their journey for the documentary during some of their most vulnerable moments. The power imbalance continues in South Korea, where defectors are reliant on NGO largesse and the South Korean government for their support and livelihood.
Beyond Utopia implies that identifying brutalities and helping North Koreans flee to freedom are the only solutions to North Korea’s human rights violations. To be sure, the North Korean government, as all countries which ascribe to the United Nations charter, should be held accountable for breaches in human rights. But U.S. policies that have destabilized the human security of the North Korean people for the past 70 years must also be held accountable. We believe that diplomacy, engagement, and building trust are more sustainable and effective ways to improve the lives of everyone on the Korean Peninsula.
We are taking this step of writing to you because this film is being presented on public television, an entity that we support and which has presented our own films. We would like to know the process by which this film was vetted and by what standards. We ask that you add a disclaimer on the film and on the website that indicates the film represents only one perspective of what is a highly controversial situation and its causes, and offer additional resources for your viewers. We also request that Independent Lens pursue alternative, diverse programming for audiences seeking further information about the issues raised by this film. We ask that you include voices of Asian American and Korean diasporic community members, scholars, and activists who have a critical understanding of this history, and who have been researching, writing about, and grappling with issues of displacement, war, peace, and the impact of U.S. policies on the Korean peninsula.
Thank you in advance for your consideration. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Deann Borshay Liem, Producer | Director, First Person Plural, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, Memory of Forgotten War, Geographies of Kinship, Crossings
Hye-Jung Park, Producer | Director, The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
JT Takagi, Producer | Director, Bittersweet Survival, The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, Homes Apart: Korea, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
cc:
Carrie Lozano, President and CEO, Independent Television Service
Stephen Gong, Executive Director, Center for Asian American Media
Don Young, Director of Programming, Center for Asian American Media
Leslie Fields-Cruz, Executive Director, Black Public Media
Denise Greene, Director of Program Initiatives, Black Public Media
Francene Blythe-Lewis, Executive Director, Vision Maker Media
Cheryl Hirasa, Executive Director, Pacific Islanders in Communications
Amber McClure, Director of Programs, Pacific Islanders in Communications
Sandie Viquez Pedlow, Executive Director, Latino Public Broadcasting
Luis Ortiz, Program Manager, Latino Public Broadcasting
S. Leo Chiang, Co-Director, Asian American Documentary Network
Grace Lee, Co-Director, Asian American Documentary Network
Response from Independent Lens to our Open Letter about “Beyond Utopia”
Lois Vossen of Independent Lens sent us a PDF in response to our open letter. We have copied and pasted it below.
January 9, 2024
Oscar shortlisted Beyond Utopia by independent filmmaker Madeleine Gavin chronicles two family stories of escape from North Korea.
The documentary will be presented on January 9, 2024, on PBS as an episode of Independent Lens, an award-winning anthology series of independently produced films like I Am Not Your Negro, Writing With Fire and The Invisible War.
Independent Lens films explore a range of people, nuanced perspectives and experiences. By providing viewers with a variety of viewpoints presented by independent filmmakers, Independent Lens encourages civic engagement and informed dialogue around complex issues.
Independent Lens takes seriously our responsibility to present audiences with the highest quality of programming and believes that Beyond Utopia exceeds this standard. Beyond Utopia meets PBS’ editorial guidelines for nonfiction content, including the requirements to clearly identify sources and engage in rigorous fact-checking.
To clarify decision making surrounding the film’s composition and participants, the filmmaker has offered this statement:
“Beyond Utopia follows two families attempting to escape from North Korea. We spent five years making the film and did so in cooperation with a diverse and highly-credentialed group of consultants throughout Asia and the United States. Our goal was to honor the families that trusted us with their stories and to provide audiences with a window into Pastor Kim’s lifelong dedicated work. We have been humbled and gratified by the wonderful reception that the film has received.
Our film attempts to give voice to North Koreans, people who have been largely unseen and unheard by the outside world for more than 75 years. Our film does not set out to present a comprehensive history of the Korean War, or the development of the North Korean state. Our goal was to provide only enough background information to ground the personal journeys of our participants, and this historical information was thoroughly vetted by numerous experts and scholars for accuracy and fairness; We are not aware of a single factual error.
Issues of consent and power dynamics are critical to our work as filmmakers and we treat them with the utmost consideration. Fully cognizant of the difficulty in getting informed consent from the Roh family and Soyeon while they were in the midst of living the real events documented in the film, we moved forward with the mandate that unless we ultimately got such full consent from them, there would be no film. This was both a journalistic and ethical imperative for us. Beyond Utopia exists only as a result of our subjects’ full, enthusiastic and informed consent.
Beyond Utopia has been seen for nearly a year and the participants are on this journey with us. Their endorsement is evident in the many personal appearances that Pastor Kim, Soyeon, and the Roh family have made and continue to make on behalf of the film all around the world.
Questions and debate are a part of any serious journalistic endeavor and we welcome dialogue about the choices we made with this film, as well as the reasons we are proud of our work.”
Sincerely,
Lois Vossen
Executive Producer, Independent Lens
Our Response to Independent Lens
The following is our response to Independent Lens about “Beyond Utopia” sent to Lois Vossen January 13, 2024.
Dear Lois:
Thank you for your reply to our open letter regarding Beyond Utopia and for including a statement by Director Madeleine Gavin. As filmmakers, we understand the challenge of providing “only enough background information to ground the personal journeys” of the film’s participants, as Gavin shared in your reply to us. However, omitting the central role of the United States and the ongoing Korean War in shaping Korean history and North Korean society promotes an unbalanced and inaccurate narrative about why people defect or leave the country. Rather than providing a nuanced perspective that might lead to informed discussion, the film obfuscates these issues and reinforces an oversimplified and politicized narrative that’s already dominant in the mainstream media.
As members of the Independent Lens community, we wholly support the organization’s mandate to provide viewers with a variety of viewpoints and to “encourage civic engagement and informed dialogue around complex issues.” It is in this spirit that we wrote our open letter to Independent Lens. Concerns about the filmmaking process notwithstanding, our ask for accountability and transparency of Independent Lens is in its capacity as the film’s publicly funded broadcaster. As such, we reiterate our requests:
● Please provide audiences with alternative, diverse programming about the issues raised by this film; include voices of Asian American and Korean diasporic community members, scholars, and activists who have a critical understanding of this history, and who have been researching, writing about, and grappling with issues of displacement, war, peace, and the impact of U.S. policies on the Korean peninsula.
● Add a disclaimer when broadcasting the film and on the Independent Lens website to the effect of: “Beyond Utopia represents one perspective of what is a highly controversial situation and its causes” and offer additional resources for your viewers.
● Please provide a description of how the film was vetted by Independent Lens, including your curatorial and fact-checking processes, and identifying panelists and sources, to the extent that this information can be made available to the public.
Finally, you stated that Beyond Utopia “exceeds” Independent Lens’ standards for assuring the highest quality of programming. What are those standards and in what way(s) did the film exceed them?
Thank you again for considering our concerns and requests.
Sincerely,
Deann Borshay Liem, Producer | Director, First Person Plural, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, Memory of Forgotten War, Geographies of Kinship, Crossings
Hye-Jung Park, Producer | Director, The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
JT Takagi, Producer | Director, Bittersweet Survival, The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, Homes Apart: Korea, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
Response from Independent Lens January 17, 2024
Dear Deann, Hye-Jung and JT,
I deeply appreciate your thoughtful feedback. Your ongoing work to foster a fuller understanding about Korea is important and commendable.
All Independent Lens documentaries provide the viewpoint of an independent filmmaker, and Beyond Utopia is one example of the point-of-view documentaries we showcase.
Public media offers a range of programs across various series to help audiences learn about complex issues. I acknowledge the need for more programming on Korea and that there are aspects and questions to be explored in future work.
As you noted, we’re unable to share individual filmmaker documentation of the vetting process. The Beyond Utopia filmmakers provided documentation to Independent Lens and to PBS Standards and Practices that met the vetting requirements outlined in PBS Editorial Standards.
I’m always interested in hearing from filmmakers and audience members, and value your thoughts as we continue to do all we can to best serve independent filmmakers and the American public.
With best regards,
Lois
Our Response January 23, 2024
Dear Lois,
Thank you for your reply sent on January 17. We appreciate that Independent Lens acknowledges the need for more programming on Korea and that there are aspects and questions to be explored in future work. In this regard, Independent Lens has our full support. However, we are troubled by the fact that Beyond Utopia appears to breach PBS’s Editorial Standards and Co-Production Guidelines for accuracy and editorial partnership.
You state that Beyond Utopia met the vetting requirements of PBS Editorial Standards; however, we are at a loss to understand how the standards were applied. The standard for accuracy, for example, states that “accuracy includes more than simply verifying whether information is correct.” Producers must place the facts “in sufficient context based on the nature of the piece to ensure that the public is not misled.”
As we pointed out in our letter to you sent on January 7, Beyond Utopia omits any reference to the destabilizing impacts of the unended Korean War on North Korean society as a factor in the decision of families such as the film’s subjects to leave their country. The hardships faced by the people of North Korea today cannot be understood accurately outside of the context of ongoing hostilities stemming from the Korean War, including draconian economic sanctions against North Korea.
We also fail to see how the film passed PBS standards for editorial partnerships. The first principle in the PBS Co-Production Guidelines, as referenced in the PBS Editorial Standards (#10, p. 8), states that “[t]o protect the integrity of public television programming, the content of such programming must be free from the control of parties with a vested self-interest in that content.” And yet, Beyond Utopia is produced in association with the Human Rights Foundation, with its CEO, Thor Halvorssen, serving as one of the film’s Executive Producers. Moreover, as noted in the film’s credits, several people involved in the making of the film have “direct ties to two organizations working to help North Koreans obtain freedom, the Human Rights Foundation and Liberty in North Korea.” Both entities clearly have a “vested self-interest” in the film’s subject matter and would have exerted significant editorial influence in the program. This would be like the NRA producing a film about gun control, with CEO Wayne LaPierre serving as the film’s Executive Producer and others affiliated with the NRA serving as commentators. In fact, Beyond Utopia relies upon commentary by Liberty in North Korea to deliver the film’s message as to what should be done to help North Koreans.
The mere disclosure in the film’s credits of partners with vested interests in the film’s editorial decisions does not substitute for the due diligence called for by the standard to ensure that programing acquired by PBS is free from the editorial control of parties with a vested self-interest.
We hope that, in the future, Independent Lens makes use of the kinds of editorial procedures and external advisors that other parts of PBS use to ensure that the documentary films it presents to the American public, supported by their tax dollars, fully comply with PBS standards and show their subjects in the historical and current contexts that they deserve.
Sincerely,
Deann Borshay Liem, Producer | Director
First Person Plural, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, Memory of Forgotten War, Geographies of Kinship, Crossings
Hye-Jung Park, Producer | Director
The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
JT Takagi, Producer | Director
Bittersweet Survival, The #7 Train, The Women Outside: Korean Women and the U.S. Military, Homes Apart: Korea, North Korea: Beyond the DMZ
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