Camp 14: Total Control Zone is the story of the brutal labor camp in North Korea in the late 80s. Born on November 19, 1983 as a political prisoner, Shin Dong-Huyk was badly beaten to the point of disfigurement, made to work long hours, tortured and malnourished from the age of 6.

In this crystalizing documentary, Dong-Huyk reveals what he went through in the camp. It also features interviews with the officers in charge. Prisoners in Camp 14 usually die around the age of 45.

Camp 14 DocumentaryThe poster for Camp 14

Dong-Huyk was was a child of two prisoners who had been ordered to marry by the wardens. Having spent his entire childhood and youth in Camp 14, his escape, aged 23 – due to the help of another prisoner – didn’t mean the terrors would stop.

Institutionalised, unaware of how to function in the real world and still mentally and physically scarred from a lifetime of back-breaking work and torture, he travelled through North Korea and China before arriving in South Korea. He has since moved to southern California.

He is – as far as anyone knows - the only person known to have successfully escaped from the "total-control zone" internment camp in and lived to tell the tale. He is also believed to be the only person to have been born in a North Korean prison camp to escape from North Korea.

Because of his unique survivor status, Dong-Huyk’s importance to human rights causes is immeasurable.

The documentary has screened at many Human Rights festivals and film festivals alike. It debuted last August in Switzerland at the Locarno Film Festival before hitting Germany, Sweden and the U.S.A. It is due for release in the U.K on October 4th.

Watch the Camp 14 trailer here