On the Ward and Underground
Korean Labour Migration in the Federal Republic of Germany
As part of the recruitment agreements between the Federal Republic of Germany and South Korea, around 8,000 miners as well as 10,000 nurses and care workers came to West Germany until 1977. As fragile as the collective memory of the experiences of this time is, so is the cinematic tradition documenting the lives of the Korean "guest workers" sparse and incomplete. Only the descendants and the next generation of Korean people in Germany sought new approaches to this history in the medium of documentary film.
The directors of the films selected for this program look back on the history of the first generation of Korean labour migration and record what remains and is still visible today. They use archive material and reports from contemporary witnesses, and they relate themselves to what was filmed. But above all, they show images of the present and everyday life and try to understand how the present and everyday life have been significantly shaped by the lives of the migrant workers of the recruitment agreements. These are cinematic works that are still characterized by blank spaces, gaps and unanswered questions.
"On the Ward and Underground: Korean Labor Migration in the Federal Republic of Germany" was curated by Eh-Jae Kim.
