Wildlife Documentary Filmed in Korea’s Demilitarized Zone

Over the past few months NHNZ, a production company based out of New Zealand, has been filming an unlikely documentary in Korea’s Demilitarized Zone. The film has nothing to do with the war between North and South Korea, or even politics in general. It’s about the wildlife that inhabit the 150 mile strip of land between the two countries. More on the documentary below.

The film follows the many creatures in the zone, including the long-fanged water deer and there have even been sightings of bears and tigers. Sadly, no lions. The narrative follows the migration pattern of the red-crowned crane and fish through the Han River. The feature isn’t officially titled at the moment, but is leaning towards World’s Weirdest Wildlife Sanctuary.

One would presume that it would take a lot of work to get a permit to enter the Korean zone, but Neil Harraway from NHNZ stated the opportunity was, “simply too fascinating to pass up.”

“You get surreal images of little birds sitting on mine-warning signs, butterflies perched on soldiers’ guns and wild boar that are missing legs due to the area’s land mines…It is a bleak place with two huge fences and a constant military presence — you can feel the human tension.”

Those poor animals! It would be really eerie to film wildlife in the DMZ. No one has really been in that area since its creation in 1953. This project does sound like a new and different take on your normal wildlife documentary. It will be interesting to see if there will be any political commentary by either side regarding what they should do with the animals.

What do you think?

Source: Variety