Beyond Utopia
ABOUT
What lengths will a person go to to gain freedom? In BEYOND UTOPIA, filmmaker Madeleine Gavin offers a suspenseful look into the lived experience of fleeing North Korea. We meet a mother desperate to reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind; a family of five — including small children and an elderly grandmother — embarking on a treacherous journey across the Yalu River and into the hostile mountains of China; and a man of God on a mission to help vulnerable people, at the risk of his own safety. By embarking on this journey, they risk severe punishment and possible execution - all to abandon a paradise they’ve believed in their whole lives. This gripping, visceral, and urgent film embeds the viewer with these families as they attempt their perilous escapes. BEYOND UTOPIA is a singular, illuminating, and unforgettable cinematic experience.
Madeleine Gavin has edited award-winning narrative and documentary films that premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Berlinale, and Cannes, among others. She directed and edited the Netflix documentary City of Joy, about a revolutionary center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Gavin teaches in the film school at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.