Director
Malene Choi
Starring
Karoline Sofie Lee, Thomas Hwan, Seong In-Ja
Run Time
mins
Release Year
2018
Country of Origin
Denmark
Certificate
15
Language
Danish, English, Korean
Director of Photography: Catherine Pattinama Coleman
Editor: Julius Krebs Damsbo
Produced by: Julie Friis Walenciak, Julie Rix Bomholt, Katja Adomeit
Music: Philip Nicolai Flindt
Screenplay by: Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen
Sound Production: Anne Gry Friis Kristensen, Kevin Koch
Director Bio
Malene Choi
The Return is Malene Choi's (b. 1973) feature debut. Her short films have been selected for e.g. Hot Docs, Göteborg Film Festival, Nordic Panorama and Venice International Short Film Festival. Malene Choi graduated from the National Film School of Denmark’s documentary programme in 2005.
The Return
Part of the European Perspectives Strand
An enthralling blend of fiction and documentary, Malene Choi’s emotionally absorbing film follows Danish-Korean adoptees as they head back to their native land in search of their birth parents. Denmark-raised Karoline (Karoline Sofie Lee) and Thomas (Thomas Hwan) meet at a Seoul guesthouse designed for returning Korean adoptees. As the two get to know each other, the film intercuts footage of other real-life residents dealing with the emotions that emerge from encounters with Korea, their birth parents and how this impacts their adoptive families.