Join us for a free premiere screening of Twin Cities PBS’s newest national production, The Dictator’s Playbook, which explores how six dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, shaped the world. How did they seize and lose power? What forces were against them?

We will be screening the premiere episode, which explores the meteoric rise of North Korea’s Kim Il Sung, with an opportunity to discuss the series with TPT’s producers after the show. Witness Kim Il Sung’s transformation from guerrilla fighter to brutal dictator of North Korea. How did he build the most controlled society on earth and launch a dictatorship that has lasted for three generations?

Doors will be at 6:30 pm, screening at 7:00 pm. Stay after the screening with a discussion with TPT producer, Fritz Bergman, Hyon Kim, and Mark Canning. More information listed below.

Light refreshments and a cash bar will be available.

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Mark Canning

Mark was born in Munich of American parents, but grew up in Minnetonka. (His dad was the Managing Editor of the Star Tribune.) After graduation from college in 1977, Mark went overseas and only moved back to Minnesota last spring. Most of those 41 years were spent with the State Department as a diplomat. He lived in, (and had to study the languages of), Poland, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Korea, and China. Mark also worked as a college lecturer and radio news announcer (Taiwan), soldier (Korea) and student (London, The Soviet Union).

Mark spent six years in Korea. He worked closely with North Korean refugees, arranging meetings with members of Congress, Secretaries of State, and the Vice President. He also secured the funding to create a Fulbright Fellowship for North Korean refugees. The first five North Korean graduate students are now studying in the US.

Mark is married and has four grown kids who grew up overseas, but now live in the Twin Cities.

He loves cycling and has raced on four continents.

Hyon Kim

Hyon Kim is the founder of Midwest Alliance for North Korean Refugees (Mid-ANKR), a Minnesota based non-profit organization working toward the education and advocacy for the promotion and protection of North Korean refugees. She is pioneering an initiative to educate about the plight of North Korean refugees along with promoting relationships and policies for the human rights of North Korean refugees. Her personal experience of being born at a time of “one Korea,” then being separated at the age of four from her family when Korea was separated into North and South (her family in the North), brings a deep commitment, passion, and expertise to this work.

Ms. Kim is the founder and CEO of MN Best Inc. a minority and woman owned company which provides consultants in the civil and environmental engineering field. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Her background includes construction management, real estate, biomedical devices, international distribution, and business leadership.

Ms. Kim was the first Asian to serve on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. She has held positions as the Chair of the MN State Council, and a member of the Board of Directors for notable organizations such as YWCA (national level), MN World Trade Center, Workforce Investment, and National Association of Women Business. Ms. Kim also serves as Chair of the Asian-African Business Development Committee at the International Leadership Institute. She was named one of Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal’s “Top 25 Women to Watch.”

The Dictator’s Playbook | Series Preview

Episode 1 | Kim Il Sung Prologue