Director Jota Mun challenges conventional narratives about adoption that muzzle the original family’s voice.
Brooklyn, N.Y. – October 21, 2025 – POV, the multi-Emmy®, Oscar® and Peabody Award-winning documentary series, presents Between Goodbyes, the feature debut of first-time director Jota Mun, and produced by Mun, Zoe Sua Cho, and Barb Lee. The film follows a queer Korean adoptee reconnecting with her original mother in Seoul, as she unravels decades of silence, stigma, confronting long-held regrets, and cultural misunderstandings with tenderness, humor, and resilience. As a fellow queer Korean adoptee, Mun’s lived experience brings personal insight and uncommon intimacy to a story that reframes conventional narratives about adoption and kinship.
Called by RogertEbert.com “a familial drama that captures themes of identity and what it means to call a place, or people, home,” Between Goodbyes will make its national broadcast premiere on Monday, December 8, 2025 at 10pm (check local listings) on PBS Television. It will then be available to stream until March 8, 2026 at pbs.org, the PBS App, and PBS’s YouTube page. Now in its 38th season, POV remains America’s longest-running nonfiction series on American television.
Unlike a common stereotype of international adoption, Okgyun Kang was married when her fourth child, Mieke, was placed for adoption to the Netherlands. Two Evangelical Christians in the Netherlands adopted Mieke from South Korea in 1982. She didn’t consider searching for her original family until 2002, when, unexpectedly, they reached out to her. Amid the intense social pressure of the era, Okgyun has long carried regret and continues to ask her daughter for forgiveness. Years into a tumultuous reunion, Mieke returns to Seoul to spend time with her original family. As backstories surface from both mother and daughter, the women share meals, memories, and sharp truths.
Director Jota Mun filmed Between Goodbyes from the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic through 2021. Archival photos and footage trace the family’s milestones: a reunion in the Netherlands in 2002, time together in South Korea in 2016, and another visit in 2021. Through candid conversations with siblings and extended family,Between Goodbyes reveals how secrecy, migration, and queerness intersect-and how humor and patience can bridge even the widest gaps-inviting audiences into a story that is as complicated as it is loving. Featured in the film are participants Okgyun Kang, Mieke Murkes, and Ruth Chon.
“After growing up wondering what an original mother could be like, I was immediately struck by hearing how Okgyun and her husband searched for their daughter for over 10 years,” said director Jota Mun. “Meeting Mieke and her entire family upended what I understood about original mothers and being in reunion.
While observing their struggles to connect, I realized there’s so little information available to prepare either side for what being in reunion might feel like. In particular, there is almost no public information about what original mothers actually think and feel. When I finally met Okgyun, she was shockingly human – nuanced, imperfect, and full of her own feelings.
Between Goodbyes is an open love letter to all original mothers who have suffered from family separation. I sincerely hope the film will catalyze a deeper understanding of how the adoption industry affects families around the world.”
“Between Goodbyes challenges traditional views on adoptions while showcasing a complex relationship between an adoptive family and a birth family,” said Erika Dilday, Executive Director, American Documentary and Executive Producer of POV and America ReFramed. “By exploring adoption from a long-term perspective, director Jota Mun’s film thoughtfully raises questions about how a lack of transparency and communication can affect an individual and multiple families across generations.”
Between Goodbyes made its world premiere at the 2024 DMZ International Film Festival, winning the Emerging Filmmaker Award for Jota Mun. The film won the Special Jury Award for Feature Documentary at the 2024 Santa Fe International Film Festival, and was an Official Selection of 2024 DOC NYC
Raves include:
“Beautifully conceived and profoundly multilayered, a heartbreaking and
uplifting story of family, identity, and acceptance.”
– Chicago International Film Festival
“Director Mun employs a nuanced and sensitive approach, crafting a narrative that deviates significantly from the traditional adoption narrative.”
– DMZ International Documentary Film Festival
Between Goodbyes is a Jjigae Productions, Point Made Films, and Avonhead co-production. The director is Jota Mun. The producers are Jota Mun, Zoe Sua Cho, and Barb Lee. The director of photography is Jimin Lee, and the editor is Michelle Chang. Sound design is by Sung Rok Choi and the composer is Gene Back. The consulting producer is Deann Borshay Liem and the consulting editor is Jason Pollard. The impact producer is Christina ‘X’ Seong and the Social Media Manager is Juliana Aiken. The executive producers are Alex Gibney, Maiken Baird, and Erika Dilday, and Chris White for American Documentary.
POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Instagram.
POV films and projects have won 50 Emmy Awards, 28 George Foster Peabody Awards, 16 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.
About American Documentary, Inc.
American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia organization dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Acton Family Giving, and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
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