Jeon Ho-seok now frames diaspora as a way of living, not a place of origin. He is making a new documentary about a Korean American doctor couple and disability families in North and South Korea. The project follows earlier films on Cuba and U.S. politics.
Jeon Ho-seok defines diaspora as a question of how a person thinks and lives, not only of birthplace or bloodline. His new documentary project carries that idea into a story about care. It focuses on a Korean American doctor couple who look after children with developmental disabilities in North and South Korea, along with the families around them.
A new project built around care
Jeon is currently producing a documentary about a Korean American doctor couple and disability families in North and South Korea. He has described the work as part of his long view of diaspora. The subject places daily care at the center of the story, alongside family and disability.
From law practice to documentary making
Jeon worked as a lawyer in New York before turning to documentary directing. His first film, Heronimo, grew from a planned 20-minute YouTube video into a feature made over three and a half years. The project began after he met a Korean taxi driver in Cuba in 2016 and went on to tell the story of Heronimo Im, also known as Im Eun-jo, who joined the Cuban Revolution with Fidel Castro and later served as a deputy minister of industry.
How his film path widened
His second documentary, Choseon, followed five Korean American politicians who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeon has also spoken about meeting Koreans and other overseas communities in places including Yanbian, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, and Kazakhstan. He said those encounters, along with later reflection on the limits of bloodline and nationalism, continued to shape his understanding of diaspora. The new film extends that same line of work by linking identity to what people choose to do for one another.
