Dear Supporters,

I want to thank you again for your patience while we complete Geographies of Kinship. We are making good progress, though it is taking some time to edit because of the complexity of the story and the volume of footage. This month we are completing character assemblies and we expect to have a rough cut of the entire film by this summer. See some photos from the editing room below, including just a few of our binders full of translations and transcripts!

An unexpected opportunity came up to document a historic journey by 30 international women leaders, including Gloria Steinem, Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland), Christine Ahn, Leymah Gbowee (Liberia) and others as they cross the DMZ from North to South Korea calling for an end to the Korean War and peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. I have long been interested in making a film about the DMZ and the issue of Korean reunification, so when this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came up, I decided to go for it.

I will be in Korea later this month documenting the crossing. Meanwhile, our post-production team continues to work on Geographies of Kinship.

Again, thank you for your continued support and patience! We hope the film will be finished by early 2016.

Best,

Deann and the Geographies of Kinship Team

Dear Kickstarter Supporters,

I’d like to bring your attention to the cover article from last week’s New York Times Magazine. Not only does it discuss the issue of Korean adoption in depth, it features two women interviewed for Geographies of Kinship.

You can read the article here. I’d love to hear your thoughts and reactions! Please post on the Geographies of Kinship Facebook page.

Here at Mu Films we are continuing to work on the post-production phase of Geographies of Kinship. In addition, I recently returned from a trip to Korea, where I gathered footage of one of our characters participating in a special tour designed for Hapa adoptees who were mostly adopted in the 1950s and 60s. The footage is quite moving and I look forward to hopefully sharing it with you as part of the film and companion web pieces.

Meanwhile, we are starting to edit scenes and working towards our first assembly. Because of the quantity of footage and the complex narrative arc of the film, our schedule for completion has been pushed back somewhat. We anticipate completing the film around late fall of this year. If you'd like to re-watch the trailer, or read about Mu Films' previous adoption documentaries, visit www.mufilms.org. Also please "like" the Geographies of Kinship Facebook page for additional updates.

Thank you for your support and your patience as we work towards completing this ambitious project!

Best,

Deann

Hi Kickstarter Supporters -

I'd like to give you all a quick update on Geographies of Kinship. This year has been incredibly busy as we try to complete production. In the spring and summer we did some additional shooting and we are now preparing for post-production. As you can see from this photo, our office has been full of wonderful interns and additional helpers to translate, transcribe, log, and subtitle our new footage. Earlier this month I started screening material with my editor, Vivien Hillgrove, which is very exciting. While I was hoping the film would be completed by end of this year, as we dive into the footage I can see that it will take a bit longer than that. I'm now hoping that the film will be finished in 2015.

Thank you for your patience and for your wonderful support!

Best, 

Deann and Mu Films

We are thrilled to announce that Geographies of Kinship has just received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Bridging Cultures Through Film program! These funds will cover remaining production and all of post-production costs for the film including editing, original music, archival footage licensing fees, sound design and mix, online-editing, and other completion costs. With this funding we are on target to complete the film at the end of 2014 and will plan to release it in early 2015. 

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support. We couldn’t have gotten this far without your help! We will keep you posted on our progress in the coming months. 

In the meanwhile have a wonderful holiday season!

- Deann & the Mu'vers

Hi, Kickstarter supporters!

We are hard at work reviewing and digitizing archival footage from KBS and other Korean broadcasters and community organizations. Pictured below is one of our interns, Iyeon Kim, surrounded by footage!

Best,

Deann and Mu Films