Henequen (film)

Henequen is a 1996 South Korean film directed by Kim Ho-sun. It was awarded Best Film at the Grand Bell Awards ceremony.

Plot
This historical drama, set in 1905, depicts the difficult plight of Korean henequen field laborers in Mexico. The story follows the love between the daughter of an aristocratic family fallen on hard times, and the son of a butcher.

Background
The film tells the story of Korean people who were brought to Yucatán under false promises of a good life, including wealthy Koreans, but were instead ended up forced to work as slaves by the Yucatán henequen industry landlords, which were proud Spanish descendants of the Yucatecan upper class. At that time, it was the main industry of the state of Yucatán and henequen was referred to as the "green gold", as it made many Yucatecan families very wealthy.

This part of history where Korean people were used as slaves under brutal conditions (and even killed), didn't appear in Yucatecan history books until recently. When the movie was filmed outside of Mérida, Yucatán, it became a real eye opener to Yucatecan society about the horrible abuse inflicted to Korean people decades ago, which they were not aware of.

The henequen plant, which produces the sisal fibre, is traditionally used for rope and twine, and is a fibrous plant from the state of Yucatán, in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

Cast

 * Chang Mi-hee
 * Yim Sung-min
 * Kim Seong-su
 * Kim Cheong
 * No Yeong-guk
 * Lee Jong-man
 * Han Tae-il
 * Joo Ho-sung
 * Park Kwang-jin
 * Hong Jeong-uk