Between Goodbyes directed by Jota Mun

네번째 출산을 앞둔 가난한 한국 여인이 시어머니의 강요로 갓 태어난 딸을 입양기관에 맡긴다. 그후로 오랫동안 막내 딸은 그녀의 가족사에서 지워졌다. 그러나 잊혀지지는 않았다. 이제 가난에서 벗어난 아버지가 딸을 찾기 위해 입양기관을 찾아간다. 우여곡절 끝에 부부는 네덜란드에 사는 딸 미카(Mieke)과 상봉한다. 미카는 네덜란드의 장애인 부부에게 입양됐었고, 부모는 4살 때, 14살 때 세상을 떠났다. 첫만남 후 한동안 뜸했다. 코로나19 팬데믹 중 미카는 서울의 생가족을 만나 시간을 보내고 돌아간다. 얼마 후 미카와 소통하던 세째 딸이 교통사고로 사망하자 미카는 다시 서울을 찾는다. 이번에는 동성 부인을 동반했다.

 

조타 문 감독의 'Between Goodbyes'는 이전의 뿌리를 찾아가는 입양한인이라는 전형적인 스토리에서 탈피한 다큐다. 한국의 생부모가 찾기 시작했고, 미카 성정체성은 입양한인의 존재감에 무게를 더한다. PBS에서 무료로 시청할 수있다.

 

 

 

Between Goodbyes

 

When a queer Korean adoptee reunites with her birth mother in Seoul, long-buried cultural misunderstandings and unspoken regrets surface. With tenderness, humor, and determination, both mother and daughter navigate the heart-wrenching legacy of international adoption.

 

Okgyun never fit the stereotype of international adoption; she was married when her fourth child, Mieke, was adopted to the Netherlands. Now years into a tumultuous reunion, Mieke visits her family in Seoul. Uncovering backstories from both a birth family and their daughter, Between Goodbyes challenges conventional narratives about adoption, reunion, and queer kinship.

 

 

Between Goodbyes directed by Jota Mun

 

Director: Jota Mun

Producer: Zoe Sua Cho, Barb Lee

Executive Producer: Alex Gibney, Maiken Baird

Cinematographer: Jimin Lee

Editor: Michelle Chang

Language: English, Korean, Dutch

Country: United States of America, South Korea

Year: 2024

 

 

JOTA MUN / DIRECTOR and PRODUCER

Jota Mun (they/them) is the director and producer of Between Goodbyes, which had its world premiere at the DMZ International Film Festival, where they won the Emerging Filmmaker Award. The film has been selected to screen at Chicago International Film Festival, Santa Fe International Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Award for Feature Documentary, as well as DOC NYC. As an editor, their credits include the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Who Killed Malcolm X?.

 

DEANN BORSHAY LIEM / CONSULTING PRODUCER

Deann Borshay Liem (she/her) is the Producer, Director, Writer of the Emmy Award-nominated documentary First Person Plural as well as the award-winning films In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee and Memory of Forgotten War. She was the former Director of the Center of Asian American Media (CAAM) and a former Sundance Institute Fellow. Deann is the Director, Producer, and Writer of Geographies of Kinship and her new documentary, Crossings.

https://www.betweengoodbyes.com

 

 

Between Goodbyes | POV

Discover more about this documentary: https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/between...

 

POV (a cinema term for “point of view”) is television’s longest-running showcase for independent nonfiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 500 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues. 

 

 

 

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