Henequen (film)

Synopsis

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 that were brought to Yucatán under false promises of a good life, including wealthy Korean people, but 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 Yucatán state and henequen was referred as the "green gold", as it made many Yucatecan families very wealthy.

This part of the history where Korean people were used as slaves under brutal conditions(and even killed), didn't appear in Yucatecan history books up to recently. When the movie was filmed outside of Mérida, Yucatán, it became a real eye opener of the 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 it is a fibrous plants from the Yucatán State, in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

Cast