About the Film

'The Other Side of the Mountain' is the first feature film co-produced between a U.S. company and North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea). The film took six years to complete under extremely difficult circumstances. The collaboration with the North Korean film industry has been a delicate yet fruitful relationship. With the consent of the Department of Culture of North Korean Government, the American producer was granted access to produce this feature film with North Koreans. The film was shot entirely on location in North Korea. The cast and crew involved in the production of this film are North Korean, who received rations from the government for working on the film like any other job. The soundtrack features an orchestra and original songs composed by North Korean musicians. This was also the first instance of sync sound for a film made in North Korea. The sound equipment was brought over to Pyongyang and used for the first time in their film history. Never having produced a film of this scope, the nation is proud to present the film to the rest of the world. 

Biography

Joon Bai, the producer and screenwriter of the film, was born in Hae Ryong, North Korea in 1937. He experienced the ending of World War II in 1945 and was taken to South Korea as a refugee during the Korean War in 1950. He emigrated to the United States as an exchange student and earned a B.S.M.E. degree in 1965 at the University of Missouri and has grown his manufacturing business since then. He has been actively aiding North Korean orphanages since 1997. He realized the tremendous need for reunification of South and North Korea and began to write this script to support the cause. He is the producer of 'The Other Side of the Mountain', which is his first feature film.