On the South Korean Island of Jeju is an institution called Aeshuwon, which houses young and unmarried pregnant women. Here they seek refuge from their everyday life in order to keep their pregnancy a secret. During their stay, the women must make the crucial choice of whether to keep their child or give it up for adoption. This bears great consequence, as many schools and workplaces in Korea refuse to accept unmarried mothers. Confronting the stigma of being unwed, Forget Me Not follows three women at the institution for unwed mothers, as they take steps toward such a difficult decision. 

Aeshuwon’s head manager, called Mrs. Im, is a strong-willed feminist and plays a lead role in passionately advocating for the women and their independence, often against judgement from parents, romantic partners, and society at large. Director Sun Hee Engelstoft, whose experience of being adopted informed this work, uses an empathic lens to capture candid conversations between the women and those around them. The result is an extraordinarily personal look at motherhood, and the ongoing consequences of rigid social structure and family tradition.

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