FILM SCREENINGS

Dooman River

2009. China. Directed by Zhang Lu. With Cui Jian, Yin Lan, Li Jinglin. Twelve-year-old Chang-ho lives with his mute older sister and their grandfather in a remote Chinese town separated from North Korea by the Dooman River. Though plagued by unemployment and other tensions, their village is nonetheless relatively prosperous compared to its counterparts across the river, and the villagers are initially sympathetic toward the North Korean refugees fleeing Kim Jong-il’s totalitarian state. Writer-director Zhang’s story of compassion and strife offers a window into a little-seen corner of China. In Korean, Mandarin Chinese; English subtitles. 89 min.