Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges Present

FIRST PERSON PLURAL

USA/South Korea 2000 | 60mins | Video Color | English & Korean w/E.S.

In person: Director Deann Borshay Liem

In 1966, at the age of nine, Deann Borshay came to the United States from South Korea as one of tens of thousands of children adopted by white American families after the Korean War. She arrived at the San Francisco International Airport confused, alone, unable to speak English, and was instantly swept away to the manicured lawns of middle-class suburban California, her home for the next 30 years.

Her adoptive family had been told she was an orphan named Cha Jung Hee, with whom they had developed a slight relationship through letters via the Foster Parent's Plan. She was, in fact, someone entirely different, a look-alike replacement named Kang Ok Jin, sent when the other girl's mother abruptly changed her mind. Old enough to remember Korea but too young to protest or communicate her situation, Jung Hee/Ok Jin eventually became Deann Borshay, and no one knew the difference. Childhood memories collided with the "truth" of her adoption papers, and over time, everything about Korea—language, culture, name, identity, even the existence of another family in Korea—faded away.

FIRST PERSON PLURAL, Borshay's debut film, is a personal documentary exploring the complicated landscape of assimilation, adoption, cultural difference, American attitudes and mistaken identity. Drawing upon original and archival material—including extensive 8mm home movies documenting everything from Borshay's arrival in the U.S. to her first bath, her first Christmas, family vacations, and scenes from daily life—FIRST PERSON PLURAL traverses a difficult and intimate terrain. Borshay's struggle to confront the secrets of her childhood and reconcile the demands of two families, two cultures and two nations reveals a poignant story about loss and finding a new way home.

—Jean Cheng

"This is one of the most touching movie documentaries we have seen. It is fearless and has to be admired for its emotional honesty and power. It takes the viewer on a journey through so many peoples' lives, including Deann's, with such elegance and dignity. It was the best film at Sundance that year (2000)."

—Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges

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