Where We Begin

Where we begin is a story about an Korean American named Jimmy finding a sense of place through historic places. We explore this journey as he comes to understand how a not so "tiger mom's" parenting style may have influenced his identity and sculpted his sense of belonging. In a city with a thriving Korean population, Jimmy finds it hard to connect. Jimmy, grapples with an evolving sense of identity while navigating race, interracial relationships and a past that is not his. Like many Asian American's, Jimmy confronts his identity later in life as he grasps the concepts of race and being a person of color in a society that sees race as binary. The Asian identity is difficult to explain in Los Angeles as Jimmy can seamlessly slide between white and black. All this interweaves with his love for historic architecture, which is his one place where things stay unchanged with a richness he realizes is very American, and his desire to love Korean architectural heritage.