A heart-rending autobiographical account of a Korean boy adopted into a Belgian family, who has to assert himself in a household of five children – told from the perspective of a teenager.
This animated documentary tells the story of cartoonist and co-director of Approved for Adoption, Jung, who was born in Korea but raised in Belgium by adoptive parents. It was a time, at the end of the Korean War, when thousands of Korean children were adopted into the West. As Jung says, he was the Asian in the family – a badly behaved one too. Out of sync with his community, he retreated into the world of drawing. Luckily, despite the teenage predicaments, his life turned around. Many years later, Jung returns to Seoul, to find his birth mother, or perhaps just to see how much he feels at home. The adult Jung draws his own story with considerable skill, humour and insight.
“For me, it's a film about self-acceptance. If there's anything I want to be retained, that’s it. Through my personal experience, this is the story of an adult who re-reads his past, his history and the path that led him to accept himself as he is.” (Jung)
Jung
Born in 1965 in Seoul, South Korea. Adopted by a Belgian family in 1971. Graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in illustration. In 2006 he published Skin Color: Honey, an autobiographical black and white graphic novel.
Laurent Boileau
Born in 1969 in France. He worked as a camera operator and editor before debuting as a director in 1999. He has made several documentaries about graphic arts. Approved for Adoption is his first feature.
Approved for Adoption Couleur de peau: Miel
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