The article reflects on two profound storytelling lessons the author learned from the late Korean American filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson. The first involves the Korean concept of "han" - an existential grief or anguish that can accrue over generations.

While working with Kim-Gibson on documenting the stories of Korean "comfort women" enslaved by Japan in WWII, the author saw how Kim-Gibson made a point to understand the fullness of who these women were beyond their collective trauma. With one woman, she gently asked about her joys and life before the camps, honoring her as a complete human being.

The second lesson relates to "jung" - a Korean word connoting layered love, affection, attachment, and empathy. When an issue arose over having a Black American director tell the women's stories, Kim-Gibson bridged the divide by saying "His people have known han" - recognizing their shared intergenerational suffering.

The author carried these lessons into her own book on the enslaved couple Ellen and William Craft, seeking to capture their fullness as individuals and understanding their story through the lenses of "han" (the weighty anguish they endured) and "jung" (the transcendent love that made their struggle possible).

While some may argue these Korean concepts don't fully translate, the author sees Kim-Gibson's spirit welcoming such linguistic transgressions as a way to build new bridges and find the shared "han" and "jung" pulsing through all stories.

In essence, Kim-Gibson taught the importance of honoring a story's cultural nuances while striving to unveil the full humanity within.

The full article below:
https://lithub.com/pulitzer-prize-winner-ilyon-woo-on-craft-lessons-from-the-late-filmmaker-dai-sil-kim-gibson/