[INTERVIEW] Emmy Award-winning documentarian explores hidden stories of Korean adoptees

Deann Borshay Liem says her search for her adoption history shaped her documentary filmmaking. Adopted from Korea in 1966, she later learned that her birth family was alive and that her identity had been switched and her documents falsified. Her film Relative Strangers follows six mixed-race Korean adoptees searching for birth families. A 2025 Truth and Reconciliation Commission finding recognized human rights violations in her case.

Liem’s first documentary, First Person Plural, was released in 2000 and followed her search for and reunion with her Korean family.

Her 2010 film In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee traced the identity of the girl whose name had been substituted for hers.

Relative Strangers follows six mixed-race Korean adoptees over nine years as they use DNA testing and social media to search for their birth families.

The film examines Korean military camptowns, stigma faced by young Korean mothers, racial stereotypes, and the childhood experiences of adoptees in the United States and Europe.

In March 2025, Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recognized human rights violations in 56 overseas-adoption cases, including Liem’s.

Published Oct 7, 2026 12:01 pm KST

Deann Borshay Liem's 'Relative Strangers' follows 6 mixed-race Korean adoptees searching for their roots

Deann Borshay Liem / Courtesy of Deann Borshay Liem

Deann Borshay Liem spent much of her childhood believing she was an orphan.

Adopted from Korea to the United States in 1966, Liem discovered in the early 1980s that her birth mother and siblings were alive. She also learned that her identity had been switched with another child during the adoption process and that her adoption documents had been falsified.

That discovery found its way into Liem's work as a documentary filmmaker, through which she explored her own past and the broader history of Korea's overseas adoptions.

"Trying to understand the truth about my adoption was part of the motivation for making my first film 'First Person Plural'," Liem said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times.

Released in 2000, the documentary followed her search for and reunion with her Korean family. In 2010, she made "In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee," which traced the identity of the girl whose name had been substituted for hers.

"These two films were intimate first-person explorations of my adoption and a means to recuperate my personal history and identity," she said.

Her work also extended beyond adoption to the broader Asian American experience. Liem served as an executive at the Center for Asian American Media and executive produced the Emmy-winning documentary "AKA Don Bonus" in 1995.

"My interest in the broader history of transnational adoption has endured. Over the years, I've returned to this topic in part to help process my own life, but also to educate the public and contribute to community-building and healing," she said.

'Relative Strangers' cast members Lo Rojon as a young boy with his adoptive mother, left, and Lisa Jackson as a young girl with her Korean birth mother / Courtesy of Deann Borshay Liem

Liem's personal and historical inquiry now continues in "Relative Strangers," her documentary-in-progress following six mixed-race Korean adoptees over nine years as they use DNA testing and social media to search for their birth families.

"Their stories reveal many things that I think are part of Korea's repressed history: the realities of American military camptowns; the social stigma and pressures young Korean mothers faced, along with racial stereotypes about Korean women that led to the removal of their mixed-race children; and the early lives of adopted Koreans in white and Black families in the U.S. and Europe," Liem said.

The film also challenges longstanding narratives about mixed-race children born to Korean women and American servicemen, she added.

Through their own searches, the film's participants learn that not all women who dated servicemen worked in the sex industry and that not all children born to these women were considered a problem by their mothers.

"Relative Strangers" is now in the final stages of production, with Liem raising funds for additional scenes and interviews. She hopes the film will spark broader conversations about wartime adoption and the ethics and transparency of international adoption.

Korean children in boxes await airlift to the United States for adoption in this archival photo. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

Beyond her films, Liem also sought answers about her own adoption through an official investigation into Korea's overseas adoption system.

She was among hundreds of overseas adoptees who submitted cases to Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which investigated allegations of human rights violations in the country's past adoption system. Following a yearslong probe, in March 2025, the commission recognized human rights violations in 56 cases, including Liem's.

"My TRC report states that I was unlawfully substituted with another child and that my Korean mother did not give consent to send me overseas. A variety of my rights had been violated — the right to human dignity and worth, the right to be raised by my original parents, the right to a name, the right to know my identity," she said.

Liem, who is still considering what form of redress she might pursue, said the TRC's findings have only reinforced her commitment to telling the stories of international adoptees.

"No matter what, because I'm a filmmaker, I will continue to tell stories about the experiences of international adoptees and will ensure that 'Relative Strangers' is completed and is seen by as many people as possible," she said.

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迪安·博尔谢·利姆表示，她寻找自己被收养经历的经历塑造了她的纪录片创作。她于1966年从韩国被收养，后来得知自己的亲生父母仍然在世，而她的身份被调换，证件也被伪造。她的纪录片《亲戚陌生人》讲述了六位韩裔混血被收养者寻找亲生父母的故事。2025年，真相与和解委员会的一项调查结果认定，她的案件中存在侵犯人权的行为。

Liem 的第一部纪录片《第一人称复数》于 2000 年上映，讲述了她寻找并与韩国家人团聚的故事。

她 2010 年的电影《车贞熙事件》追溯了被冒用名字的女孩的身份。

《亲生父母》这部纪录片历时九年，追踪了六名韩裔混血被收养儿童，看他们如何利用 DNA 检测和社交媒体寻找自己的亲生家庭。

该片探讨了韩国军营城镇、韩国年轻母亲面临的污名、种族刻板印象以及美国和欧洲被收养儿童的童年经历。

2025年3月，韩国真相与和解委员会认定56起海外收养案件存在侵犯人权行为，其中包括Liem的案件。

发布于2026年10月7日下午12:01（韩国标准时间）

迪安·博尔沙伊·利姆执导的《亲戚陌生人》讲述了六位韩裔混血儿寻找自己根源的故事。

Deann Borshay Liem / 由 Deann Borshay Liem 提供

迪安·博尔沙伊·利姆在童年时期的大部分时间里都认为自己是个孤儿。

1966年，利姆从韩国被收养到美国。20世纪80年代初，她发现自己的生母和兄弟姐妹仍然在世。她还得知，在收养过程中，她的身份被调换成了另一个孩子，而且她的收养文件也被伪造了。

这一发现融入了 Liem 的纪录片制作作品中，她通过这些作品探索了自己的过去以及韩国海外收养的更广泛历史。

“试图了解我被收养的真相是我拍摄第一部电影《第一人称复数》的部分动机，”Liem在最近接受《韩国时报》的电子邮件采访时说道。

这部于2000年上映的纪录片记录了她寻找并与韩国家人团聚的过程。2010年，她制作了《关于车正熙的事》，追查了那个名字被冒充成她名字的女孩的身份。

“这两部电影以第一人称视角，深入探讨了我的收养经历，也是我重拾个人历史和身份认同的一种方式，”她说。

她的工作范围也从收养扩展到更广泛的亚裔美国人经历。Liem曾担任亚裔美国人媒体中心的执行官，并于1995年担任艾美奖获奖纪录片《AKA Don Bonus》的执行制片人。

“我对跨国收养历史的兴趣一直都很浓厚。这些年来，我时不时地会回到这个话题，一部分是为了梳理自己的人生，另一部分是为了教育公众，并为社区建设和疗愈做出贡献，”她说。

《相对陌生人》剧组成员罗罗琼（Lo Rojon）小时候和他的养母（左），以及丽莎·杰克逊（Lisa Jackson）小时候和她的韩国生母/图片由迪安·博尔谢·利姆（Deann Borshay Liem）提供

Liem 的个人和历史调查现在在她正在制作的纪录片《亲戚陌生人》中继续进行，该片跟踪拍摄了六名韩裔混血被收养者，历时九年，他们利用 DNA 检测和社交媒体寻找自己的亲生家庭。

“他们的故事揭示了许多我认为是韩国被压抑的历史的一部分：美国军事营地的真实情况；年轻的韩国母亲面临的社会污名和压力，以及导致她们的混血子女被带走的关于韩国女性的种族刻板印象；以及被美国和欧洲白人和黑人家庭收养的韩国人的早期生活，”Liem说道。

她补充说，这部电影也挑战了关于韩国女性和美国军人所生的混血儿的长期叙事。

通过自己的调查，影片中的参与者了解到，并非所有与军人约会的女性都从事性产业，也并非所有这些女性所生的孩子都被她们的母亲视为问题。

《近亲陌生人》目前已进入制作的最后阶段，利姆正在筹集资金，用于拍摄更多场景和采访。她希望这部电影能够引发关于战时收养以及国际收养的伦理和透明度等更广泛的讨论。

这张档案照片显示，装在箱子里的韩国儿童等待空运到美国被收养。照片由美国国家档案馆和记录管理局提供。

除了电影之外，林还通过对韩国海外收养制度的官方调查，寻求关于自己被收养的答案。

她和其他数百名海外被收养者一样，向韩国真相与和解委员会（TRC）提交了案件。该委员会负责调查韩国过去收养制度中存在的侵犯人权指控。经过数年的调查，2025年3月，委员会认定56起案件存在侵犯人权的行为，其中包括Liem的案件。

“我的真相与和解委员会报告指出，我被非法替换成了另一个孩子，而且我的韩国母亲并未同意将我送往海外。我的多项权利遭到侵犯——包括人格尊严和价值权、由亲生父母抚养的权利、姓名权以及知晓自身身份的权利，”她说道。

Liem仍在考虑她可能会寻求何种形式的补偿，她说真相与和解委员会的调查结果只会更加坚定她讲述国际收养儿童故事的决心。

“无论如何，因为我是一名电影制作人，我将继续讲述国际收养儿童的经历，并将确保《亲戚陌生人》这部电影能够完成，并让尽可能多的人看到，”她说。

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