24/06/2025 - Morten Traavik returns to the Korean peninsula with a story about matchmaking between Northern women and Southern men, co-directed with Sun Kim

Norwegian artist and filmmaker Morten Traavik has extensive experience with the Korean peninsula, creating a bridge between his country and North Korea's culture and youth sectors through exchange programmes which proved controversial at home. In 2016, his film Liberation Day [+see also:
trailer
film profile] saw Laibach as the first Western rock group to perform in Pyongyang. The mere fact that it took place guaranteed interest in the film, and a similar claim can be made for his new documentary, North South Man Woman, co-directed with South Korea's Sun Kim, which has just premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The story revolves around a matchmaking agency that connects South Korean men with women who have escaped North Korea. The main protagonist is Yujin Han, a defector herself, who runs the agency Lovestorya. This is how she also found a husband, Yurok Jin, who came to the agency looking for a bride. Their relationship is the most interesting in the film, which is full of surprisingly candid testimonies: while Yujin is an industrious, super-active woman who also deals in real estate and makes huge pots of bean paste during the winer, Yurok doesn’t really do much and appears to see himself as a charming loser. This creates a tension that feeds a more dramatic part of the largely light-hearted documentary.

Traavik's gaze is that of an amused outsider, bringing a playful vibe through pointed and abundant use of music and montage, always with a slightly ironic angle, especially with excerpts from North Korea's most beloved film, the 1993 romantic comedy Urban Girl Comes to Get Married. When Northerner Eunsil Han tells us about her preference for Southerners, it is accompanied by stock-like footage of handsome, loving and responsible men. A lot of the film is dedicated to the characters telling us how each side perceives the other, with parents-in-law being a recurring theme. But they all agree that it's Northern women and Southern men who are the most desirable spouses.

There are also some truly dark moments. Hyojuy Han relates her tragic destiny of being trafficked via China, which included severe family losses, and in the final stretch of the film, our protagonists, along with other Northern friends, set up a party that devolves into telling horrendous stories from back home. In fact, the doc opens with the funeral of a Northern mother and son who starved to death in Seoul.

Similarly to Liberation Day, Traavik and Kim spin an engaging and edgy story out of a strong topic, but always stay somewhat on the sidelines and leave an impression that there is a lot more to dig into under the surface. The honest testimonies add gravity, which at times feels intense owing to the film's generally upbeat vibe, the polished production, frequent changes of setting and fast cutting. So, when we simply watch a person telling their story for a few minutes, it has a sobering effect, and when we recall meeting Hyojuy's husband, a regular guy, and watching them with their kids, there is a whole new, complex picture opening up. It is mostly an easy film to watch, and the tonal shifts occasionally catch us by surprise, but leave us with questions, rather than in shock.

North South Man Woman is a co-production between Norway's Remont Films, Latvia's VFS Films and South Korea's Mirror & Story. Dogwoof handles the international sales.