Abstract

The essay analyzes the first two of the three films comprising Soyoung Kim’s Exile Trilogy. Through examining the consequences of the mass forced immigration of Koreans from Far Eastern Russia into Central Asia in 1937, I consider the modes of survival that the descendants have accomplished and the dialogic relation between the director and her subjects. The essay explores historical memory, mourning, and recommitment to a historically informed present and future. This essay is also experimental in that it combines standard academic distance from the subject with the author’s memories of personal involvement with the project and the issues raised.