The Librarians
Librarians from Texas, Florida, and other states unite to examine how book restriction policies are shaping library collections.
Beyond Utopia
Beyond Utopia embeds two families risking everything to flee the totalitarian state of North Korea and the courageous pastor who guides them.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- January 9, 2024
- Length
- 120 minutes
Director
Madeleine Gavin
Madeleine Gavin has edited award-winning narrative and documentary films that have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Berlinale, and Cannes, among others. Madeleine directed and edited the Netflix Original Documentary, City of Joy, and she is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Producer
Jana Edelbaum
Emmy and DuPont Award-winning producer Jana Edelbaum, founder of Ideal Partners, recently released Beyond Utopia (Sundance Audience Award, Hulu). Previous work includes: House of Z, Strange Weather, and Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage? She is producing the Alvin Ailey feature with Barry Jenkins (Searchlight) and Swifties feature.
- Other ITVS Films
- The Librarians
Producer
Rachel Cohen
Rachel Cohen is a film producer and head of production at Ideal Partners. Projects include Kim Snyder’s The Librarians and Barry Jenkin’s biopic about Alvin Ailey. Prior to Ideal, Rachel was SVP of development and production at Tribeca Productions, and spent seven years at Artisan Entertainment as SVP of development and acquisitions.
Producer
Sue Mi Terry
Dr. Sue Mi Terry is a leading expert on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia. She 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, and National Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
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The Film
Beyond Utopia chronicles two stories of escape from the regime of North Korea. A family of five, including small children and an elderly grandmother, seeks safe passage after crossing the border into China, and a mother in South Korea looks to reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind in the North. They solicit the aid of a South Korean pastor and activist who has spent over two decades guiding North Koreans to safety. Defectors must traverse heavily guarded borders, multiple countries, and mountainous terrain, with the threat of severe punishment and possible execution looming over their passage.
Combining visceral vérité footage with interviews and archival footage, Beyond Utopia is a portrait of the lengths people will go to gain freedom, revealing a world many have never seen.
