Director Choi Kook-in, a North Korean defector born in Seongjin, North Hamgyong Province, studied film at the Moscow State Film School. After criticizing Kim Il-sung’s August Incident, he sought political asylum with the Soviet Union. Settling in Kazakhstan, Choi (1926~2015) directed several films and became the “Merit Director.” The Year of the Dragon was co-directed with Kazakh filmmaker Asanali Ashimov. The film follows the Uighurs, Ahtam and Maimhan, who live in the Xinjiang region, fighting against the unjust oppression of central officials. The bitter protest of the Uighurs in East Turkmenistan (Xinjiang district) resonates with the North Korea Choi left behind and the division of the Korean Peninsula. Can the resonance point to the theoretical, historical boundaries, or gaps in world film history, and create different reasons for nationality and Diaspora? Goodbye My Love NK, directed by Kim So-young and introduced at BIFF, contains images of Choi’s life and his last testimony. (Kim Young-Woo)