Lorber Adds Two New Docs

NEW YORK: Lorber Films has scored the North American rights to Kimjongili, along with picking up the feature-length documentary Nobody’s Perfect.

For North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s 46th birthday, a hybrid red begonia named Kimjongilia was created, symbolizing wisdom, love, justice, and peace. The film draws its name from the flower and reveals the stories told by survivors of North Korea’s prison camps, of devastating famine and repression. The film, from N.C. Heikin, made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

Richard Lorber, the president and CEO of Lorber Films, said: “Since I saw this film at Sundance, I knew that N.C. Heikin had captured an important story with visionary insight that must be shared. What sets this film apart is not just journalistic excellence, but unique artistry in the cinematic expression of hard-news. Like a great Greek tragedy, the stunning use of dance sequences to portray the pain of Kim Jong Il’s victims emotionally transcends political reportage. N.C.’s film soars imaginatively as brutal facts become an allegory of power and suffering, communicating more poignant truths than the media’s numbing reports on North Korea.”

Heikin added, “I made this film because I cannot bear the thought that today, right now, there is a place where innocent children are sent to concentration camps to be starved and worked to death. The truth about North Korea must be told to bring about change. I am deeply gratified and thrilled that Kimjongili will now reach audiences across the U.S. and Canada through the dedication of Lorber Films.”

Lorber Films has also taken on the North American theatrical, TV, video and educational rights for Nobody’s Pefect. From Niko von Glasow, the doc will have its U.S. theatrical release in December. Nobody’s Perfect is a portrait of 12 individuals, from childhood to today, who have grown up as a “child of Thalidomide.” Glasow himself is one of the subjects, as he too was was affected by the drug, which was given to woman in Europe and Canada in the 1960s as a way to treat morning sickness. It wound up that women who took the drug in early pregnancy gave birth to children with severe birth defects such as missing or shortened limbs.

"I’m happy that Lorber Films has picked up the North American rights and we look forward to working together on a successful theatrical release," said Oliver Mahrdt for Niko von Glasow and Autlook Films.

"Lorber Films is proud to release Niko von Glasow’s intimate and humorous portrait of 12 extraordinary people and to make it available for North American audiences," commented Lorber.