MISSION STATEMENT

Ina's story symbolizes the struggle to reclaim personal agency and self-worth amidst the demands of freedom. Her journey is the resilience and determination of survivors seeking to reconnect with loved ones and find a sense of normalcy. The film highlights the courage required to overcome past trauma and the ongoing battle for empowerment and healing, offering hope and the possibility of forging a new path forward.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

I am a filmmaker drawn to the landscapes of memory, recovery, and the quiet lives of those who are often pushed to the margins. My work begins not with spectacle, but with the emotional undercurrents that shape who we become.

In Me: JFK, You: ICN, I follow a flight attendant attempting to return home for her brother’s wedding. Beneath the surface of professional composure lies a history she has long carried in silence. The airplane cabin and airport corridors become more than physical spaces; they transform into psychological terrain where responsibility, memory, and suppressed identity intersect. Although the film centers on a journey across continents, it is ultimately about an inner crossing.

It asks what it means to move forward when the past continues to travel with us. Inspired by the resilience I have witnessed in everyday survivors, I sought to create a world that feels intimate, restrained, and honest, where repression and self-recognition coexist. Migration, in my experience, can produce both opportunity and isolation. Trauma can echo across generations in subtle, invisible ways. Aging, particularly within immigrant and marginalized communities, can quietly become a site of exclusion. These tensions shape the emotional architecture of my work.

For me, cinema is not simply storytelling; it is an act of facing what is difficult and imagining recovery. I am committed to building a film practice rooted in the aesthetics of Korean cinema while opening space for stories that challenge stereotypes and reveal resilience in unexpected forms.

Thank you for looking at this journey for Ina and me.

Jiyeon Kim