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| Mexican filmmaker Melissa Mondragon, left, poses with Gabriel Yu, a fifth-generation Korean Mexican who starred in her documentary film, "Descendientes," before the movie screening at Bella Epoca Culture Center in Mexico City, Sept. 10. Courtesy of Melissa Mondragon |
By Lee Hae-rin
A Mexican filmmaker has made a short documentary film portraying the descendants of Korean immigrants who settled in Mexico in 1905. The film screened at Bella Epoca Culture Center in Mexico City with an audience of over 100 people, Sept. 10.
Melissa Mondragon, 23, who majored in cinematography at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) and directed the short documentary, "Descendientes," which in Spanish means, "descendants," as her first film, said her work is about "love for perseverance, love for your family and love for who you are," in a recent written interview with The Korea Times.
The 23-minute documentary features the stories of eight Korean Mexicans who have cherished their identities and overcome hardships and existential challenges to grow to blend into the Mexican community.
"The interviewees are descendants of the Korean patriots who financially supported their homeland's independence movement," Mondragon said, explaining that the first generation of Korean settlement in her country sought to preserve their history and acknowledge their ancestors by supporting Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule.
Mondragon said she was shocked to find out the history of Korean settlement in her country while making the film because it was never taught at school. She said she wanted to "compensate for the damage" that Korean immigrants had gone through while settling there, recognize the Korean community in Mexico and apologize by making the movie.
In April 1905, 1,033 Koreans sailed to Mexico for over 40 days and settled in the country. Most of them worked on farms as undocumented laborers and could not return to their home country or receive legal protections in the early years of their settlement, as there were no diplomatic ties between the two countries at the time.
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| Korean Mexican Gabriel Yu, who now heads the Association of Korean Descendants in Mexico City, stars in Melissa Mondragon's documentary film, "Descendientes." Courtesy of Melissa Mondragon |
One of the interviewees in Mondragon's movie, Gabriel Yu, is one such fifth―generation Korean Mexican whose ancestors were Koreans who supported the independence movement in their early days living in Mexico. Yu now heads the Association of Korean Descendants in Mexico City and works on promoting Korean language and culture with fellow Korean Mexicans.
The director said the driving force behind the making of the authentic film was Mexicans' love for Korean culture.
Mondragon fell in love with Korean culture at the age of 10. Starting with Girls Generation, K-pop was a "great inspiration," and later became her motivation to explore Korea's culture and history. She said the love for K-culture is prevalent in her household as her parents are also a fan of Korean dramas, movies and artists, and she is learning the Korean language in preparation for a future visit
The film was also sponsored by "Promesas MINOZ ARMY," the Mexican fan club for K-pop giant BTS and actor Lee Min-ho. The group said it participated in the project to encourage active cultural exchange between the two countries.
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korean and Mexico this year, Mondragon said she wishes to see more collaboration between the two countries, naming previous works jointly made by K-pop group Super Junior and Mexican rock band Reik, as well as the activities of Mexican TV personality Christian Burgos living in Korea.
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