The Other Side of Memory

On June 23, 1986, someone left me on the doorstep of a home. Until ten years ago, I knew very little about the circumstances surrounding my birth. When Mom and I pay our Boston adoption agency a visit, we uncover an address in Korea that would set off a decade-long investigation. My older sister, Anna, adopted from a different Korean family, soon begins her birth family search. Hesitant at first but curious about family medical history, she follows the same process and immediately locates her birth Mom and three older sisters. After my DNA test turns up nothing, I return to Korea to visit that address. With the help of a translator, a local reporter, and community leaders, I discover more clues that would lead me to Yoido Full Gospel Church, where a senior deacon found me in front of her house on the night of June 23, 1986. Soon after, Anna returns to Korea to reunite with her birth family, bringing our parents with her. On the eve of my sister’s reunion, I receive an unexpected call - my foster parents want to meet. Though not part of the original plan, it was like meeting a new family, listening to their stories about you that you have no memory of. THE OTHER SIDE OF MEMORY is a meditation on identity, family, and the things we can’t recall but live with in our bodies.