Korean Documentaries

I recently heard that Tony Gilmore was working on a new documentary about adoption in South Korea. That news motivated me to highlight both of his works.

Behind Forgotten Eyes "presents the stories of a few brave women who came forward and broke the silence protecting a past that some want to stay buried. What are these stories that were hidden for so long? Whilst Korea groaned under the harsh colonial rule of Imperial Japan, the Japanese military coerced, tricked, and forced the women of Korea into a brutal and systematic form of sexual slavery on an unimaginable scale" (IMDB).

I saw an early version of this film in a private screening in Seoul. It was powerful, haunting. I haven't seen the final cut, but I'll still say it is worth your time. The narration is done by Yunjin Kim of the TV series Lost.

Resilience explores the topic of adoption in Korea.

"South Korea has sent more of its own children away for adoption than any other country, nearly 200,000 children abroad--and continues to send them despite the fact that it is no longer a poor, developing country. What are the reasons these children have been relinquished? Resilience tells the deeply moving stories of the mothers whose children were sent away. For the first time, a few brave women break their silence to tell their stories of profound loss and broken family ties--and of the painful decision that has impacted the rest of their lives" (IMDB).