Leading up to the release of The Last of The Sea Women on Apple TV, Dorkaholics was invited to speak with the director of the documentary, Sue Kim, as well as her co-producer Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai. They discussed their experiences of learning and seeing people in their lives learning a new language in order to communicate, something done in front of the United Nations during the course of the documentary, as well as their thoughts on preserving tradition while embracing modern times as two younger haenyeo are doing.
Andrew Nguyen: Hi, my name is Andrew. I am from Dorkaholics, where we believe there’s a dork in everyone, and it’s our responsibility to bring that dork out into the world.
Sue Kim and Malala Yousafzai: Hi, Andrew.
Andrew Nguyen: First off, I just want to congratulate you both and the team on this documentary. It was such a riveting watch and very well made.
Andrew Nguyen: One of my favorite moments in the documentary is when one of the haenyeo is practicing her English with the support of her family so that she can make her points at the United Nations meeting. I thought that scene in particular resonated with me because it reminded me of how brave that so many people have to learn a second language and utilize it to express their strong and honest beliefs.
Andrew Nguyen: On a smaller scale, it reminded me of how my parents would practice English and use it, [when] they would attend important meetings with the local government. So, was there a moment during this production that you felt resonated with you in a similar cathartic way?
Sue Kim: I mean, I think that’s a perfect example. I, too, am the daughter of Korean immigrants who came to the U.S. and had to learn a second language. Luckily, both my parents spoke English fairly well, but certainly there were times when, as a child, I had to act as a little bit of a translator for them, whether it was a visit to the bank or it was a meeting with my schoolteacher. Every once in a while I’d have to act as that translator. And so, yeah, watching Jang Soon Duk be coached in English with Michelle, who was our sort of translator assistant there. That definitely brought back the pain points of having to learn a second language and trying really hard to communicate a very important message in a second language is incredible. Malala herself is bilingual, and I find that fascinating all the time that you’re such a well-known public speaker and you have to do it and not your native language. You should probably speak about how difficult it is.
Malala Yousafzai: Three languages.
Sue Kim: Okay polyglot.
Malala Yousafzai: My mother tongue is Pashto, but we also learn Urdu in Pakistan and then English as well. So sometimes I’m doing translations from all of these three languages at the same time. I think of course there are these challenges, but we have to make our way to be able to tell our story on these different platforms. And this is true for so many girls and women activists around the world who try to take their voice to a platform.
Andrew Nguyen: Thanks so much for that answer. Um, and I know one of the themes in the documentary is just also about the diminishing numbers of the haenyeo and their culture as time passes and the growth of industrialization.
Andrew Nguyen: In general, I just believe it can be very challenging for an older generation to impart their knowledge and ways to another with the rise of these innovations and other factors that would alter the originality of it. From both of your perspective and experience, how would one be able to navigate to preserve one’s cultural values from ones that we could keep or should change?
Malala Yousafzai: I think it begins with storytelling and the fact that we can bring the story of the haenyeo to the screen is just the first step for that. And we already see in the documentary how the haenyeo, the older ones, are connecting with the younger ones. So, there you also see this very strong bond and connection and friendship, and you hope that it will be passed on to many other young haenyeo as well.
Malala Yousafzai: And I think that’s how you really carry on the tradition and the culture. And I do think that it creates a very strong sense of unity, which is critical for all of us, whether we are activists in the whole campaigning and advocacy space, or we are doing our own hard work and activism in other ways. It’s just so relevant to all of us.
Sue Kim: I think to your question, the two younger haenyeo in the film do a really great job of showing how we can try to preserve our traditions, but also embrace innovation and our modern times. They fell into the haenyeo culture. For very postmodern dilemmas, like Jung Min needed a flexible working schedule as a working mom, and so she had been an office worker who was very disillusioned with being stuck in a cubicle for hours a day. So, they both came to the haenyeo tradition, because of these very postmodern sorts of struggles and dilemmas. I love how they’ve taken it and sort of rebranded it on social media, utilizing modern technology, but still preserving the tradition. Before I started this film, I wasn’t sure how to preserve tradition in modern eras. And I think they gave us a beautiful example of how to do that.
Andrew Nguyen: Well, thank you so much, Malala and thank you Sue for just taking time out to talk to me today. Congratulations on this project and can’t wait for everyone to see it soon on Apple TV.
Malala Yousafzai and Sue Kim: Thanks, Andrew. Thank you.
Andrew Nguyen: Thank you.
