In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee (2010)

Directed by: Deann Borshay | 64 minutes | documentary

‘In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee’ is a portrait of Deann Borshay about the search for oneself. Deann Borshay, who made the documentary herself, was adopted as Cha Jung Hee by an American family just before the 1960s. The problem is, she’s not this person at all. An identity change resulted in her being flown to this other continent as Cha Jung Hee and now, many years later, guilt-ridden, she wants to know who the real Cha Jung Hee is and sets out to investigate in South Korea.

The search leads to her old orphanage, where she is confronted with the country’s bureaucracy to find out contact details and more than a single Cha Jung Hee who turns out not to be the woman in question after all. A genius is the moment when Deann Borshay and her interpreter call about eighty Cha Jung Hee’s, who are in the telephone book, in succession and a man answers: “You are speaking to Cha Jung Hee”. That was not the person wanted….

What makes the documentary ‘In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee’ very strong are the archival footage of Deann Borshay’s childhood and old recordings of the history of the Korean Peninsula are frequently used. This gives you a bird’s-eye view of the enormous development that South Korea went through during the very turbulent period of the Korean War and its aftermath.

‘In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee’ is characterized by the calm voice-over by Deann Borshay herself, who tells the story of her quest. She gives you a glimpse of the thought that has obsessively haunted her for years: who is Cha Jung Hee? An obsession that ends beautifully subdued when she understands that she herself has lived the life of Cha Jung Hee and will have to find her resignation in it.

Cha Jung Hee’s search for herself is interesting and at times almost emotional when she comes into contact with her biological mother, but the documentary takes another approach. It is shown how horrific it is that adopting Korean children became a form of human trafficking. Bizarre as it is, there are huge sums involved. While the foreign adoptions of these children first took place on humanitarian grounds, many children are still adopted to this day, while South Korea can now be counted among the economic powerhouses. In South Korea, family lines are so important that unmarried mothers sometimes see no other option than to give up their child for adoption.

‘In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee’ is a very strong documentary about the search for the truth behind an identity change and also sheds new light on the foreign adoption of Korean children. Recommended!