Randy Kosaki is the NOAA’s Deputy Superintendent of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a notable specialist in Marine Biology, and an adoptee. Three Hearts Home is a short film featuring the story of Kosaki finding and his biological mother and the connection he has with his biological sister, champion freediver and spearfisher Kimi Werner. While there are a number of stories, both real and fictional, about Asian Americans looking for and finding their biological parents and family in Asia, this is a story about finding biological family in America, including how pregnant Asian American teenage girls were treated and the choices that they were forced to make. That’s an Asian American story you don’t hear about much (it does happen – I know Asian American women who had to make these kind of choices growing up, and Disney’s Andi Mack is also a show about this).
A few other things I found appealing about this short: it has a thread about nurture and nature – both Randy and Kimi were raised apart and have radically different careers, but their interests are very similar. You can read about Randy‘s and Kimi‘s perspectives on this in two separate interviews. Also, you don’t hear much about Asian American’s being very “outdoorsy,” and these two are as outdoorsy as you can get. Finally, the story has a relaxed, Hawaiian feel to it.
In addition to the short being posted on YouTube, Kimi Werner is also giving talks about the short and her experiences, such as this one in Saratoga, California’s REI store. You can see Randy Kosaki’s research profile here.
