GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP-THE KOREAN ADOPTION STORY (working title) is a feature-length documentary that follows 5-6 Korean adoptees from the U.S. and Europe, each on a unique journey related to their adoptions. One person is searching for roots and returns to Korea for the first time. Another undertakes a search for her birth family and the reasons for her adoption. Yet another is seeking community among other adoptees. Some are motivated by a sense of loss, while others are well adjusted but desire a connection to their past. These character-driven stories will unfold against a wider backdrop of the Korean War and the hidden effects of post-war industrialization and globalization on women and families in South Korea.
Since the Korean War (1950-53) approximately 200,000 children from South Korea have been adopted into primarily white families in North America, Europe, and Australia. The Korean adoption experience and its subsequent adoptee diaspora have transformed not only how adoption is practiced worldwide, but also how kinship, identity and race are perceived and contested. As the forerunner for a growing number of international adoptions from China, Russia, Guatemala, Ethiopia and other countries, the Korean model challenges us to reflect on universal questions of identity, assimilation, family and belonging. Geographies of Kinship-The Korean Adoption Story will explore these provocative and timely themes by listening closely to those who have lived the experience most intimately-adoptees-while relaying a compelling story of epic scope. The film will enable audiences to better understand the socio-economic and political forces that brought tens of thousands of foreign children to the U.S. and Europe, the ethical quandaries of those who supported as well as those who opposed international adoptions, and the legacy, in human terms, of transracial and transnational adoptions.
GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP-THE KOREAN ADOPTION STORY just recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research and development. NEH funds will allow us to conduct additional pre-interviews with Korean adoptees from Europe and the U.S., complete research and collection of archival material, write a script, and edit a sample reel for fundraising. We are very excited to have NEH support!
