When young, wide-eyed Korean American adoptee Si Miller finds out that his bedridden birthmother wants to see him in South Korea, he's forced to confront his otherness. Everything he has built to assimilate to his New England community comes crashing down. When his well-intentioned friends and family try to save him from something they can't understand, Si lashes out, feeling betrayed by those closest to him. One day, Si takes a call on his adoptive mothers phone and is notified of his birthmother's passing. He internalizes this news and continues to retreat from his relationships. In the end, he is able to find self-acceptance and love, visiting his birthplace and reckoning with the truth of his lonely beginnings.
Thomas Percy Kim is a Korean-American writer/director. His debut stop-motion short film, TREJUR, screened at festivals including Heartland (Indyshorts) and Busan International, and received the Harry Winston Brilliant Futures award and a YoungArts gold medal. His latest short film, BUSAN, 1999, is distributed by Argo and Zen Movies, and won Best Narrative Short Film at the San Francisco Film Festival and the BFI Future Film Festival, qualifying it for the 2023 Oscars. Isle Child is his debut feature.
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