It's Jun's first day of school, and he's all ready to go with his brand-new yellow sneakers! What Jun doesn't have, however, are language skills, parental supervision, or any idea of what to expect in an American fifth-grade classroom. His Korean immigrant parents work until the small hours, and he makes them breakfast, packs his own lunch, and gets himself off to school. In the classroom, the well-meaning teacher doesn't know how to deal with the confused boy who can't understand or speak English, Jun's classmates are weirded-out by the food he brought, and a few boys make fun of him on the playground (leading to a scuffle that lands them all in the harried principal's office). South Korean filmmaker Jay J. Koh's My Brown Eyes is sparse on dialogue (being visually and emotionally driven), nicely shot and edited, and well-acted, and while some viewers may be frustrated by the lack of resolution, the open ending provides a fine springboard for a discussion of issues related to immigrant students. Recommended. Aud: I, J, P. (E. Gieschen)
My Brown Eyes
(1994) 19 min. VHS: $49.95 (discussion guide included). Master Communications. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-888194-51-0. Volume 20, Issue 1
My Brown Eyes
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