From Omeleto.
A Korean girl moves to California.
CHAMPION is used with permission from Kimberly Han. Learn more at https://kimjyhan.com.
Jimin is a 9-year-old girl who has relocated with her mother and brother to California, while her father remains behind in South Korea due to the impending Asian financial crisis. The formerly tight-knit unit has now become a "goose family," an arrangement where a parent remains behind in Korea to support the rest of the family as they become established abroad.
Jimin is bewildered by American culture and a new language, and she struggles to fit in. But most of all, she’s angry and resentful that her father has stayed behind. Feeling abandoned, she refuses to speak to him on the phone. As the financial crisis far away intensifies and her struggles adjusting become more pointed, Jimin must confront her feelings and embrace her new environment.
Directed and written by Kimberly Han, this poignant short drama captures both the challenges and growth inherent to the Korean-American immigrant experience, as told through the eyes of a curious and resilient young girl in the late 90s. Beautifully told through observant writing, luminous and understated performances and an eye for the small but telling details of everyday life, it captures Jimin’s journey towards a wider perspective as her new environment throws novel and disorienting experiences at her to navigate, all while reckoning with her difficult emotions about the father who has stayed behind in their homeland. But the notion of "home" is changing for Jimin, unsettling her sense of security.
The storytelling unfurls from Jimin’s perspective, deftly capturing how seemingly small happenings and incidents can feel enormous to a young child. Visually, the film is alive to the small textures and details that make up Jimin’s new life, capturing them in bright, luminous and naturalistic light and cinematography, from the ramshackle motel room full of ants to the juxtaposition of cooking a familiar, comforting meal in an unfamiliar place. The unhurried attention to detail is poetic, but it also captures the improvisational and resourceful nature of immigrant life in trying to find a sense of comfort and belonging in a new culture.
The storytelling has an understated, gentle quality, but it doesn’t shy away from exploring tensions, whether it’s with Jimin and her new classmates or with her father, who she refuses to speak with on the phone when he calls. Young actor Erin Yoonsuh Choi’s winning and natural performance captures Jimin’s many facets that make her a richly dimensional character. She can seem petulant and mischievous like the young child she is, but she also possesses a natural curiosity and directness of expression. She doesn’t understand the complexities of her parents’ arrangement or why they even moved in the first place. But as she seeks out a new equilibrium and finds new friends, she finds strength and resilience.
Beautifully observed and emotionally immersive, CHAMPION draws inspiration from the director’s personal experiences as part of a "goose family," a perspective not often covered by many immigrant or Asian-American narratives. Through this lens, it captures the hardships of familial separation and cultural adjustment, while detailing a young girl’s journey toward resilience and self-reliance. As Jimin’s story unfurls with charming simplicity and a heartfelt spirit, it also touches upon the deeply human need for us to feel a sense of belonging, found through making a space where our identities can flourish and nourishing our enduring family bonds.
