Between Goodbyes

I had the privilege of seeing Between Goodbyes at the Chicago International Film Festival in Fall 2024.

I'm a Korean adoptee and have seen a handful of documentaries about adoption and adoptees in reunion with their families. Between Goodbyes stuck out to me because it shares perspectives from the protagonist's Korean family-a side of the adoption story that we don't often have access to.

I appreciate this feature-length film because it shares background information on Korean adoption, which can help provide context for those who may not know anything about it, and it also showed me things I'd never seen before, namely archival Korean news footage that gave me a glimpse into Korean society in the 1980s when I was born.

This film hits on many levels, but one thing I think important to note is the representation of a queer story. The stigma of being queer in Korea is still quite strong, and I believe that films like Between Goodbyes can help build soft power to encourage Koreans to move toward acceptance and celebration of people who choose to love whom they love.

And though the film is a documentary, I really loved the more creative/fantasy-like elements that the filmmaker chose to incorporate to help the viewer tap into the emotional world that they were guiding us through.

Much appreciation for those who decided to share the most personal story in a public form; for me, this film provides an opportunity to heal, and I hope it does the same for them as well.

Between Goodbyes is a stunning, powerful portrayal of the lifelong impacts of the transnational adoption industry through personal storytelling. Incredible truth-telling and nuance is expertly embedded throughout the film. The film showcases personal realities of transnational adopted people while highlighting inherent universal experiences of navigating family, identity, and the concept of home.

Between Goodbyes is definitely one of the best films I have seen about transnational and/or transracial adoption. The film beautifully connects historic events with contemporary realities and international forces with local impacts. Between Goodbyes brilliantly humanizes family reunion despite the reality of most of us never connecting with our orginal families. Humanity, love, and complexities of diasporic communities are honored and uplifted.

A gentle film tackling complex topics facing Korean adoptees and biological families in reunion.

Great watch! As an international adoptee, this film felt personal and unique in the the various perspectives being shared in the film. I've seen numerous documentaries centered around Korean adoptees' reunion stories and I appreciate that this isn't another 'adoptee 101' film but rather expands the adoptee narrative as being multifaceted and complexly honest while navigating through cycles of grief and loss. I also enjoyed the film sharing the birth/original mother and father experience as often we don't get to see/hear this perspective.