From book to documentary and exhibition

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Passage to Pusan

What began as a non-fiction book about the impact of war on an Australian family evolved into a multi-media project including a feature-length documentary and touring exhibition.

Passage to Pusan tells the true story of Australian matriarch Thelma Healy and her brave 15,000km solo journey to war-torn South Korea in 1961 to find the grave of her solider son Vince, who died fighting in the Korean War a decade earlier.

The Passage to Pusan Documentary is based on the book of the same name by Australian journalist Louise Evans, OAM. It follows Louise as she retraces her grandmother’s pilgrimage to Pusan (now Busan) in South Korea to find her lost son’s grave and find some peace.

The Passage to Pusan Exhibition is a unique collaboration between the Korean Cultural Centre Australia, author Louise Evans and curator/photo artist Soyoun Kim. It opened in Sydney before transferring to Brisbane and Canberra.

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BOOK

EXHIBITION

DOCUMENTARY

One war tore them apart
One journey reunited them

One war tore them apart
One journey reunited them

The Sydney Institute Review

"Louise Evans captures the tenor of the decades that matured Australia, an Australia where war and hard times went hand-in-hand with a plucky determination to endure, even prosper"

Australian War Memorial

"Passage to Pusan fills a vacuum in our understanding of life experiences that were duplicated in many families across Australia during this volatile period of our history"