Home From Home Reviews

• 2009
• 1 hr 37 mins
• Documentary
• NR

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Filmmaker Sung-Hyung Cho explores a cheerful collision of cultures in this documentary. In the 1950s and 60s, as Germany rapidly grew following post-war reconstruction, a large number of people from overseas were welcomed into the country to even out the labor shortage. Chun-Ja, Woo-Za and Young-Sook were three nurses from South Korea who relocated to Germany to work in hospitals, and during their time there they all fell in love and married German men. As the women reached retirement age, they became nostalgic for the land that was once their home, and in an effort to encourage other expatriates to return, South Korean authorities created a "German village" in the coastal town of Namhae. Built from materials imported from Europe, the village allows husbands Ludwig, Armin and Willi to enjoy a bit of the old country and attracts tourists from across the country, though the three men are the only actual Germans living there and they're clearly aware of the differences between Namhae and Berlin. Director Sung-Hyung Cho is herself a South Korean expatriate who has settled down in Germany; Home From Home is her second feature-length feature, following her witty profile of an annual heavy metal festival in Wacken, Full Metal Village.