Filming her civil servant father and activist mother who met during the pro-democracy movement in 1980s South Korea, director Arum Nam traces their political awakenings as well as her own across national protests and living room debates alike.

Born on the very day that trials of South Korea’s former military regime began, with presidential elections falling every five years on her birthday, Nam’s life has been closely interwoven with the nation’s political history. The 2014 Sewol ferry disaster marks a rupture: as familial and national narratives begin to unravel, she confronts the question of how to situate herself within—and against—the histories she has inherited.

Winner of the Jury Award at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Nam’s feature debut is a playful yet critical reflection on the entanglements of family and nation, where the Korean title “Patriot Girl” speaks less to fervent jingoism than to a collective responsibility that we have to each other and to future generations.

Presented in collaboration with Jjambbong film club