Rushing to Sunshine (Seoul Diaries)

Directed by Solrun Hoaas

RUSHING TO SUNSHINE is a personal essay film that looks at South Korea's uncomfortable but growing acceptance of North Korea over a two year period. Hoaas gains unprecedented access to former political prisoners, student dissidents and others affected by a Government caught between its new open door 'Sunshine Policy' and the remnants of a cold war anti-Communist mindset. The film is a combination of the essay genre and a filmmaker's journey of exploration and probing, to unravel the things that intrigue and puzzle her about Korean society and its engagement with the North. It draws on footage recorded over a period of two years from March 1998 to March 2000 which has been a period of economic upheavel as well as enormous change in Korea, particularly in the relationship to North Korea.