Approximately twenty leading American filmmakers, including Oliver Stone and Jonathan Demme signed a letter this month condemning the detention of Suh Joon-sik. Korean courts accuse Suh, a former political prisoner and long-time human rights worker, with compromising national security. FilmWatch, a monitoring group associated with Human Rights Watch, sent the letter to Korean President Kim Dae-jung in July. The letter calls for all charges against Suh to be dropped.
"As film makers," the letter from FilmWatch reads, "we recognize the incredible power of film and its ability to inspire and effect positive change. To deliberately censor an art form so rich in possibilities, so potent as a tool of unheard voices, is to rob people of a possibility to improve themselves and society." Both Stone and Demme are founding members of FilmWatch.
Suh was arrested nearly two years ago. He is charged with "praising" North Korea by showing the film Red Hunt. The film itself has been shown in Korea before without incident. It depicts official collusion in the 1948 massacre on Chuju Island in Korea.
Shortly after his arrest in November 1997, many of the same filmmakers signed a similar appeal from Human Rights Watch, FilmWatch. Suh was released on bail in February 1998, and many thought that the courts had dropped the case. But the trial suddenly resumed in June 1999, with sentencing set to take place in early September. Prosecutors are seeking a five year prison sentence, followed by a five year suspension of Suh's civil rights.
Many free expression advocates believe that Suh's arrest is related to his human rights activities. Suh is the founder and director of the Saranbang Group for Human Rights in Seoul. Red Hunt was screened as part of their second International Human Rights Film Festival.
FilmWatch was founded over ten years ago in response to threats facing film makers and programmers . FilmWatch is committed to exposing the arrest or harassment of film makers and the banning of films for political content. In recent years, FilmWatch has been involved in film censorship cases in Cuba, China, South Korea, and Belarus.
Letter is available here:
