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Korean Argentine director Cecilia Kang reveals hidden tales from diaspora in South America

Published: 11 Mar. 2026, 14:42 Updated: 11 Mar. 2026, 17:58

SEO JI-EUN
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Director Cecilia Kang, center, answers questions from the audience during a Q&A session following the screening of her documentary "Mi Último Fracaso" (My Last Failure) at the Cervantes Institute in Seoul on March 9. The event marked the opening of a film showcase dedicated to Ibero-American women directors. [SEO JI-EUN]

In an era where films on Korean diaspora like Minari (2020) and Pachinko (2022-24) have captured global attention, Korean Argentine director Cecilia Kang points out that the Korean experience is far from uniform, adding that stories rooted in Latin America still struggle to be seen.

Speaking with the Korea JoongAng Daily in Seoul on Monday after a screening of her 2016 documentary "Mi Último Fracaso" (translated as "My Last Failure"), Kang said films about Korean communities outside North America often face an uphill battle for visibility, despite the universality of migration and displacement.

"Films like Minari specifically talk about Korean communities in North America, [a region] with more power, more development and more income," Kang said . "There is a prejudice that [...] these stories about the Korean community in Argentina seem very niche and small, but at the same time, they speak of a very universal truth."

Kang was the winner the Best Emerging Director award at the 78th Locarno Film Festival last year for the 2025 feature film "Hijo Mayor" (translated as "Elder Son").

The title of Kang’s documentary doubles as a self-critique.

"I thought the Korean community was very conservative, very homogeneous and that they wouldn’t give the same opportunities to women as to men," Kang said. "But the thing the film really taught me was to understand that we cannot judge without really knowing. Every person has their own reasons. Every person is like a universe on itself.”

As she filmed, those assumptions began to break down.

She noted that for many first-generation immigrants, clinging to Confucian values or traditional customs is not just about being conservative, but a way to "grasp your own land" that is left behind, often making the diaspora in Argentina appear "more traditionally" Korean than the residents of today's fast-paced Seoul.

Poster for the "La Mujer en el Cine" film showcase in Seoul, featuring Director Cecilia Kang’s documentary "Mi Último Fracaso." [EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA TO KOREA]

"Mi Último Fracaso" follows three strands across generations: a first-generation immigrant woman who built a life in Argentina after arriving in the early 1980s, a circle of Kang’s Korean-Argentine friends navigating adulthood and Kang’s sister, who migrated as a child and repeatedly had to rebuild her life.

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Monday's screening was held as part of the Instituto Cervantes in Seoul’s first Hispanic American Film Series, Women in Cinema, an initiative involving Spanish-speaking embassies in Korea that aims to showcase the richness of the Spanish language through its cultural expressions in honor of International Women’s Day.

Argentine Ambassador to Korea Darío César Celaya Alvarez gives opening remarks at the "La Mujer en el Cine" showcase at the Cervantes Institute in Seoul on March 9. [SEO JI-EUN]

"Argentina [is a country] where the role and construction of our national identity are closely linked to the various migrant communities that have lived in our country since its formation in the 19th century," Argentine Ambassador to Korea Darío César Celaya Alvarez said in his opening remarks.

Kang also addressed the industry's tendency to label works by women as "feminine films" while treating male-directed works as the default norm.

"I really hope that in the future we can live in a world where we don’t need to say this out loud," she said. "Whether you are men, women, trans people, Black people — according to your origins or who you are or how you identify yourself — your point of view of the world and of your life and the things that you want to represent will be different."

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]