Media

The Drop Box (2015)

Pastor Lee Jong Rak is a pastor in South Korea. His ‘drop box’ is a space where children can be placed if the parent decides to give up their child. Throughout the film, Pastor Lee emphasizes the special value of each child’s life, and how God has a plan for the little ones. The documentary focuses on his work with adoption and the babies placed inside his ‘drop box’.

Media

Adopted (2008)

Adopted tells the story of two adoptees and their families. One family is a couple preparing for the adoption of a baby girl. The other, a 32 year old adoptee from Korea that has struggled to speak with her adoptive parents her whole life about adoption. The two stories are at opposite ends of the adoption process, but both stories converge to show that love alone is not enough to make a family work.

Media

Somewhere Between (2011)

A documentary on four different teenage girls adopted from China under the One Child Policy who are currently living in the United States. The film explores their struggles with racism, identity formation, belonging, and race and gender.

Media

Approved for Adoption (2012)

An animated film about a young Korean boy joining a Belgium family and his return to his birth country. The story follows him over the course of his life, and the times when his adoption influenced whether or not he felt accepted.

Media

Found (2021)

The story of three adopted Chinese-American teenage girls who discover they’re blood-related cousins on 23andMe. Their online meeting inspires the young women to confront the burning questions they have about their lost history and travel back to China.

Media

One Child Nation (2019)

This film includes the various diverse perspectives on the one child policy that China implemented in 1980, from the people who carried out the policy to the people who fell victim to the policy. This film is for anyone interested in learning about one of China’s biggest and most impactful planning initiatives. It’s an eye-opening documentary to give new perspectives and understandings of the causes and effects of the policy.

Birth Family Search

Blue Bayou (2021)

A Korean-American man raised in the Louisiana bayou works hard to make ends meet for his family. However, he must confront ghosts of his past when he discovers he could be deported from the US and sent back to South Korea.

Birth Family Search

Twinsters (2015)

This documentary tells the true-life story of identical twin sisters separated at birth who discover each other online. They meet and confirm their identity with a DNA test, and they set out to explore aspects of their background together. One twin lives in the US while the other twin lives in France.

Birth Family Search

aka DAN: Korean Adoption Documentary

Dan Matthews is a Korean adoptee who journeys back to Korea to reunite with his biological family, including a twin brother he never knew he had. He has all this documented and shared on his YouTube channel for his fans/followers to follow along to.

Birth Family Search

Searching for Go-Hyang (1998)

This film is about twin sisters who are adopted into the US but return back to Korea 14 years later in hopes of exploring and reconnecting with their homeland and roots. This story addresses issues of national identity and cross cultural adoption.

Resources