Whilst staying in a guesthouse in Seoul, she meets other adoptees from Europe and the US who are there with a similar quest - to search for their birth families. Despite their different upbringings, what they seem to have in common is that each person is seeking to better grasp their ‘origin’, or at least allow themselves time to contemplate the issue of their identity.

This film is a hybrid, blurring fact and fiction with both scripted and documentary elements. It draws from the director Malene Choi Jensen’s own experience as an adoptee and features two lead actors who are adoptees themselves. The power of the film lies in the fact that many of Karoline’s encounters and interactions in the guesthouse are captured for real. We are allowed to follow the emotional journey of the characters up-close, witnessing their everyday reality interspersed with carefully dramatised situations.

Screening as part of the London Korean Film Festival on tour. Also see Microhabitat and Little Forest.

koreanfilm.co.uk

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