AND THEREAFTER

San Francisco Premiere

USA/South Korea 2003 | 56mins | Video Color | English & Korean w/E.S.

In Person: Director Caryn Waechter

For the 10,000 Korean women who married American G.I.'s and came to the United States, marriage was an escape from the crushing poverty of post-war Korea. AND THEREAFTER is a memorable portrait of one of these women, Young-Ja Wike, whose dreams of Mikook, or "beautiful country," began crumbling soon after her arrival. Americans look down on her because of her poor English; Koreans call her a western whore: she continues to find herself a stranger in a country where she has lived in for the past forty years. Award-winning director Hosup Lee offers a privileged view into her isolated existence, his camera eavesdropping as she tends to her garden of chili peppers, her husband, and her grown children. Her moving story of fate and perseverance is revealed through each stage of her garden's growth and harvest, gently leading us deeper into the secrets of her life. "A harrowing portrait of the American dream turned to the American nightmare," (Variety); "one of the most haunting portraits of the year.... In the end we can't help but admire [Young-Ja's] ability to survive and love," (Vancouver International Film Festival).

Preceded by:

GOD IS GOOD

USA 2004 | 23mins | Video Color
DIRECTOR: Caryn Waechter
Little Harold faces the challenges of his immigrant parents when his mother takes action against her philandering husband.

—Peggy Chung