Approved for Adoption (2012): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2012, Approved for Adoption is a family, animation and documentary film directed by Laurent Boileau, running about 70 minutes.

What it’s about. This remarkable animated documentary traces the unconventional upbringing of the filmmaker Jung Henin, one of thousands of Korean children adopted by Western families after the end of the Korean War. It is the story of a boy stranded between two cultures. Animated vignettes – some humorous and some poetic – track Jung from the day he first meet his new blond siblings, through elementary school, and into his teenage years, when his emerging sense of identity begins to create fissures at home and ignite the latent biases of his adoptive parents. The filmmaker tells his story using his own animation intercut with snippets of super-8 family footage and archival film. The result is an animated memoir like no other: clear-eyed and unflinching, humorous, and above all, inspiring in the capacity of the human heart.

Who’s in it. Approved for Adoption stars William Coryn as Jung, Christelle Cornil as La mère, Jean-Luc Couchard as Le père and Arthur Dubois as Jung (8 ans), among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.3/10, Approved for Adoption has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Fandango At Home. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Approved for Adoption page.

If you liked it. Fans of Approved for Adoption tend to enjoy Spirited Away, Back to the Future, The Lion King and Coco.