Resilience

Description

Best Documentary Asian Film Festival of Dallas
Best Documentary Feature DC APA Film Festival
Grand Jury Award Nominee, Best Documentary Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Best Documentary Finalist Palm Beach Women’s Int’l Film Festival
Asian Network of Documentary Award Pusan Int’l Film Festival

Official Selection
Vancouver Asian Film Festival
IAWRT India Asian Women’s Film Festival
San Diego Asian Film Festival
Annual Asian Studies Film Expo: Asia In Current Motion

“Compelling” -The Korea Herald

“Intimate, charming, compelling.” -10 Magazine, Korea

Synopsis

Resilience takes a look at a side of adoption rarely told: what happens after the reunion? Following a Korean birth mother and her American son as they reunite and attempt to build a relationship amidst cultural clashes and unable to speak each others’ language, the film follows mother and son as they struggle to become a family again.

As a young mother, Myung-ja found herself on the verge of poverty and desperation. Leaving her son in the care of relatives, she went to another city for work. When she returned, her baby was taken away and put up for adoption.

Living in South Dakota, Brent had an all-American upbringing, hardly questioning his Korean identity, but he had always wondered why he was put up for adoption. He never thought he would get an answer, and especially not on national Korean TV where, for the first time, he meets his birth mother.

Myung-ja and Brent’s reunion after 30 years changes their lives forever. Resilience follows mother and son as they navigate their delicate path towards reconciliation and understanding.

Director

Tammy Chu

Tammy was born in Korea and grew up in the U.S. She is a Director and Producer based in Korea for several years. Tammy graduated with a degree in Cinema and Photography from Ithaca College. Her award-winning first film, Searching for Go-Hyang, was broadcast on PBS (2000) and EBS Korea (2007), and screened at film festivals internationally. She was also an associate producer for the award-winning film Behind Forgotten Eyes (2008), narrated by Lost’s Yunjin Kim.

Resilience won two awards for Best Documentary and was nominated for two other awards at film festivals in 2010 and 2011. Since Resilience’s release, it has been screening at film festivals, and various other outlets internationally. It was also released in art theaters in Seoul, Korea in 2010.