The 20th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival presents: Geographies of Kinship (2019)

Amidst the buzz around South Korea’s miracle recovery as one of the Asian tiger economies and its hosting of the 1988 Olympics, a newspaper published a headline that read “Babies for Sale: Koreans Make Them, Americans Buy Them.” It’s only a cursory glance into the decades-long phenomena that saw a post-war fledgling nation filled with war orphans transform into an economic powerhouse and the largest adoption “sending country” in the world.

Following up on the deeply personal exploration of her own Korean adoptee identity in First Person Plural and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee (SDAFF ‘10), Deann Borshay Liem is now fully behind the camera, expanding her inquiry to examine the US/Korea geopolitics that led to ever-increasing adoption rates. Exhaustively researched and filled with original footage and interviews with leading academics in the field, GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP also focuses on the emotional first-person accounts of four non-traditional Korean adoptees–from a half Black child of a US G.I., to adoptees raised in Sweden and Switzerland.

Their stories of inner turmoil, racism, atonement, and deep schisms with their adoptive families also lead to surprising journeys of purpose: advocating for Korean single mothers, connecting birth families with adoptees, and pushing for government recognition. Borshay proves a master of the genre, crafting her most probing documentary yet, a sympathetic and intimate study of migration, nationhood, and belonging.

About The San Diego Asian Film Festival: The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is the most comprehensive portrait of Asian and Asian American cinema in North America. The 20th SDAFF is scheduled for November 7-16, 2019, and will showcase over 170 independent and foreign films from 29 countries at eight different venues across San Diego County. The 10-day festival draws over 15,000 attendees for screenings, Q&As, youth programs, and the star-studded red carpet Awards Gala. For more information, visit sdaff.org. 

About Pacific Arts Movement: Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) launched in 2000 when it debuted the San Diego Asian Film Festival, a showcase of Asian American and Asian international cinema. Rooted in the love of film and the arts, global citizenship, and Asian culture and communities, Pac Arts became an official nonprofit media arts organization in 2002, and is now one of the most significant exhibitions of Asian cinema in North America. Pac Arts presents two major annual events: The Spring Showcase (April) and the San Diego Asian Film Festival (November), which bring awareness to, and educate the public about, Pan Asian cinema and media issues throughout the year.

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