School for Defectors

Spending a year in a school for children of North Korean refugees, Jeremy Workman’s documentary is as humanistic as it is intimate.

In many respects, the pupils at Jangdaehyun School are like any other teens: they stress about exams and getting into college; they dance on TikTok; they joke and laugh with friends. And they dream about their futures – a radical act when you’re born in North Korea. But Jangdaehyun is in South Korea, and its 20 boarders are all children of defectors from across the 38th parallel. Surrounded by the overwhelming promise of cosmopolitan democracy and buffeted by the often-negative attitudes of their new neighbours, the school provides a haven where these kids are free to discover who they are and who they want to be.

Over the course of a year, Jeremy Workman (Secret Mall Apartment, MIFF 2024) embedded himself within the school with permission from the students, their parents and teachers, and filmed. The Jangdaehyun community became his collaborators, welcoming him and his crew into their day-to-day lives as well as sharing their harrowing memories, hopes and ambitions. In small moments and in defiant acts, School for Defectors gives empathetic voice to an unseen generation who refuse to let their pasts define them.

Content: Melbourne International Film Festival