A long-time director of documentaries on migrant workers, JOO Hyun-sook focuses her gaze this time on the issue of international marriages. Questioning both popular media representations of these women, which ignore their human rights and depict them as commodities on a conveyor belt, and the ordinary prejudices of Koreans, she chooses to listen, instead, to the voices of these women. The voices include that of the 19-year-old Ddien, born in Vietnam, who, after suffering regular abuse and even a forcible abortion by her 62-year-old Korean husband, is now filing for divorce. There is also the voice of Melody who single-handedly raised three children while living in South Korea for over 10 years, and Melinda who has to guide herself with a map the moment that she steps off the plane, to orient herself to a new environment and a new life. Even though the women suffer tremendous hardship, it is the filmmaker who learns from these women the meaning of life, and who receives from them the strength to complete her documentary. When an unexpected pregnancy threatens to disrupt the film production schedule, the director learns from Melody, who had raised several strong and bright children, the preciousness of life. Melinda, who gets pregnant during the same period, also helps the director to finish her project before she gives birth to her own child. In short, the documentary that begins from the director’s sense of social consciousness impinges on her personal life in unexpected ways. However, through the shared experiences of marriage, pregnancy, and birth, and overcoming various obstacles, the director does more than produce a film, but also cultivates a sense of sisterly connection and camaraderie with these women. (Billy Choi)