The threat of coal seam gas drilling – fracking – in Sydney Park near her home made Broinowski determined to do something about it. “I thought a propaganda film would be a powerful way of protesting the coal seam gas mine,” she says. “Propaganda films are used to smash capitalism, advance socialism, challenge powers that are riding roughshod over local workers and citizens. I could talk to film makers in North Korea and ask them – how should I make this film?” Bronowski came to the world’s attention with her 2007 film Forbidden Lies, where she travelled to Jordan with writer Norma Khouri to explore the truth behind the tale of a young woman who, Khouri alleged, was murdered by her family for having a relationship with a westerner. The film garnered international and Australian awards.
It took Broinowski two years to get into North Korea. “But I did it; I’m the only western film maker who’s had open access to the country.” The first visit was for the regime to satisfy itself that Bronowski was genuine. “I wasn’t pretending anything, not dissembling. I was literally getting advice from local film makers. I told them there were three things I liked about North Korean films – that a group of people can beat a powerful enemy, the use of music in film and the presence of strong female characters.”
Broinowski was struck by the warmth and humour she encountered in North Korea. “It’s hard for the West to understand North Korea. We get told only one story,” she says. “I want to stress that I am not an apologist for the regime; I went there as a film maker and I wanted to point my camera in a different direction. Along with my story there was a parallel story of the people I met, people who were born there, who had no choice, the regime wasn’t their fault. Who are the North Koreans? What do they love? What are their dreams, their hopes? They are not a race of brainwashed automatons en masse following their own leaders. It is amazing how people relate to each other over there. They gather in parks, to sing, to dance, to play chess, tell stories; it’s remarkable when you consider that one in five people is a spy for the regime. Their humour reminded me of Australian humour. They get drunk and tell anti-Soviet jokes; a coping mechanism I shouldn’t wonder.”
Broinowski, who grew up in Japan, says that North Koreans are passionate, resilient, emotional and direct. “They are the Italians of Asia, the opposite of the Japanese who don’t say what they mean.” The film makers Broinowski met were conscious of how they are perceived by westerners as technologically backward. “They don’t have access to digital,” she notes. “They are still shooting on celluloid. They were secretly flattered that anyone could be bothered finding out about their work.” She soon found out how easy it is for westerners to underestimate the North Koreans. “We don’t live on the moon,” a leading film maker told her when she asked a group if they understood climate change. Bronowski says she really connected with the film makers she met but insists we keep in mind these people were the country’s elite. “They get apartments, cars; they have access to western movies while they are studying at film school. A third of the country’s population isn’t getting enough to eat … But people seemed genuinely proud of the good things about their regime.”
Aim High in Creation! she says, is a compassionate humane film about two radically different worlds. In putting Aim High in Creation! together, Broinowski was acutely aware of the responsibility she had towards people who trusted her. “There are some scenes that didn’t end up in the film,” she notes. “To the detriment of the film. But as a doco maker you have to take into account that you are filming real people who have given you their trust. I had to consider the well-being of North Korean subjects – the regime would treat them harshly if they were perceived to be critical of it. With my last film, about a con woman, she was lying but she trusted me. Aim High in Creation! took that dilemma to a whole new dimension.”
Australia is seen as a lackey of the United States, a country that followed the Americans into war on Korea and divided the country. Broinowski relates a telling moment in a park where children who had been taught to loathe and fear westerners, one child even cried when she saw her but were won over by Broinowski being silly and jumping about like a kangaroo. “Children are taught that blue-eyed pointy nosed people are invaders,” she notes. “They assumed I was American and came from a nation that bombed their country and killed their ancestors.” The kids ended up by taking Broinowski by the hand and showing her round the theme park. “We were best friends from then on. No matter how powerful the propaganda, you can’t repress a child’s natural impulse for joy and laughter.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
