Det røde kapel (2009)

A journalist with no scruples, a spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea with a mission - to challenge the conditions of the smile in one of the world’s most notorious regimes. On the pretext of being a small theatre troupe on a cultural exchange visit from Denmark, 'The Red Chapel' was given permission to travel to North Korea with the objective of performing at special events for selected audiences. But in reality the small troupe was compromised of a group who had no such intentions. Two group members, Jacob and Simon, were both adopted form South Korea to Europe as infants and this is their story about the confrontation with their biological roots, and their attempt to act and perform in a world where humour and humanity have very poor conditions. It is also a story about the meeting between the free mind and the absolute surveillance society. North Korea's 23 million citizens are ruled by the iron hand of 'The Dear Leader', General Kim Jong-il. The country has a history of starving its people, violating human rights and abusing and killing its handicapped citizens. The title 'The Red Chapel' is a reference to a communist spy cell that operated in Nazi Germany under the name 'Rote Kapelle'. In short, The Red Chapel chronicles the amusing and often bizarre encounters between this Danish “theatre troupe” and their North Korean hosts in a one of a kind, East-meets-West-meets-East look at cultural exchange in the modern world's last anti-globalist bastion.