Johnny Ma‘s Canadian diaspora feature “The Mother and the Bear” packed the Royal Alexander Theater for its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival last week. The charming comedy follows the adventures of Sara (Kim Ho-jung), a Korean mother who flies over to Winnipeg, Canada for the first time. The circumstances of the visit are not quite opportune, however. Her daughter has fallen into a deep coma; the biting Winnipeg winter seeps into her bones; and worst of all, there seems to be no real Korean food wherever she goes. As Sara learns to adjust in this foreign land without family, she stumbles upon a handsome Korean boy – and his father, a restauranteur (Lee Won-jae) – in the neighborhood. One thing leads to another, and before she knows it, Sara is on the dating apps supposedly for her daughter’s sake.
We spoke to director Johnny Ma and actors Kim Ho-jung and Lee Won-jae in a roundtable in Toronto. The interview functioned very much as the movie did: we went back and forth in English and Korean, as we talked about the full-blown affair of filming in Winnipeg winters, finding Korean food, and making sure the film is not lost in translation.
This interview has been edited and redacted for clarity.
The Mother and the Bear is screening at Toronto International Film Festival
How did you all get connected?
Johnny Ma: When we began the casting process, we worked with a legendary Asian casting director. She worked on a lot of big Hollywood films using Chinese actors, but she had a lot of connections in Korea. One of my producers was also on “The Sympathizer” (Park Chan-wook, 2024) so we had some connections there. That’s when we began the search for our leading character, Sara.
I saw a movie that she performed in previously, “Revivre” (Im Kwon-taek, 2014). [There,] I saw an actress that was very brave. That’s when I knew we needed to have this conversation, so I presented her with this idea of the story and the project to see if there’s interest. We met on Zoom, there was good rapport.
For Won-jae, we had to find someone Canadian.
Like “Kim’s Convenience,” which Lee Won-jae played in before!
Johnny Ma: Yes, but a lot of the actors on “Kim’s Convenience” didn’t actually speak any Korean – and for the character of Sam, it’s so important that he’s Korean. I thought of Won-jae, when he was still in Korea acting for television. His family was here [in Canada]; his son is actually an independent filmmaker here in Toronto. [Lee Won-jae] actually was in his son’s film, “Stand Up Man” (2017). So I reached out to a few friends to find him, and they wanted to be sure that this was a paid gig – not a student film, because I was reaching out to Lee Won-jae through his son. (laughs)
“The Mother and the Bear” borrows a lot of stylistic elements from Korean media – such as noraebang (karaoke) subtitles, finger-hearts, K-Drama-esque slow-motion, and so on.
Johnny Ma: My mom was a linguist. I approach language in the academic way. When Sara meets her Prince Charming, that’s something a North American or international audience will understand, but she might think of it as the K-Drama that she watched at home. I am teaching the audience how to watch this movie and understand it, little by little, and watch for these visual cues.
Kim Ho-jung: When I was filming for this movie, I didn’t think about this [the stylistic Korean elements] at all. These everyday motions are just all so natural. I thought “The Mother and the Bear” was very fresh take on something Korean, and the director’s vision was very unique.
Lee Won-jae: After I received the script, I thought, “Oh, how does director Ma know Korean culture so well?” He’s familiar with our spirit, our thoughts, the things that rub us the wrong way. Either he had researched really well or had spoken to a lot of people. So I was very comfortable with his direction, because we were on the same page. There weren’t that many differences from what a Korean director would have told me. The only obstacle as language, but even that was surmountable because we had a translator on-set [just as we do now].
Johnny Ma: The editing of the film was also done in Chile. They didn’t understand this [media] language, so I had to show them Korean dramas. In Korean dramas, for example, sometimes there is [the bleating of] a goat [to underscore an awkward scene]. It’s a language. So we had to learn that language and find a way to use it.
For acting, I asked Ho-jung to watch some ‘80s and ‘90s Japanese comedies, though I would tell her, “You’re not playing a comedy – it’s very intense for you. Your daughter is in the hospital. The only moment you can go to that level is when you have the K-Drama fairytale of meeting your Prince Charming.”
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We typically don’t see older people fall in love in films today, especially in an innocent way such as “The Mother and the Bear.”
Lee Won-jae: [Sam] is in this situation where love seems impossible. He’s in a foreign land, fifteen years after his wife left him to go back to Korea. He sows his hopes and dreams into his grown-up son. But then, he finds someone he can actually connect with, over kimchi. I thought this was so nice. I also thought the director’s camerawork was interesting. In Korea, the cameras are usually on tripods. However, director Ma used dollies and moving cinematography to create this piece. I thought it would be difficult to edit but it was actually quite well-done. I am very pleased with this movie.
Kim Ho-jung: The really refreshing thing for me is that the film follows the couple as if they’re falling in love for the first time. You can feel the lines of the heart being tested with each turn. It’s a really beautiful experience. Before, I’ve worked in films with darker themes – so I really enjoyed this experience.
How did you all bond on-set?
Johny Ma: We were shooting in Winnipeg in minus 30-40 degree Celsius weather. Every weekend, we’d eat a nice lunch in a Chinese place, because we really needed to rest and work at once. [I thought it’d be best to] combine the two. The five of us [the two actors, and the translators, and I] would eat, and then at the end, we’d start talking about the work.
Kim Ho-jung: That once-a-week meeting was really nice. We’d already have an idea of how to move forward during the shoot because of the lunches, so everything was very smooth.
How long did the production take?
Johnny Ma: We were in Winnipeg for about two months.
Kim Ho-jung: Inside was okay, but outside was… (laughs)
Have you been to Winnipeg before?
Kim Ho-jung: It was my first time. I saw the blanket of white from the plane and I was shocked. “How could I spend two months here?” I thought to myself. And then I stepped out of the airport and was blasted with a shock of icy wind.
But the interiors and the people were so warm. I don’t know what system they use, but the domestic spaces were very cozy. I do remember, though, that we ended up cutting the one time I did suffer a lot outdoors. We were outside the hospital, and it was really windy. I had to run towards the car, where Sam was. (laughs)
Johny Ma: When you make movies, you think everything is very, very important and you attack it. But the editor said, “We don’t need this.” [I told him,] “You don’t know how much we worked for this shot!” (laughs) There was one time when Ho-jung was really frozen. It’s dangerous for your body to be outdoors in the cold when you’re underprepared.
Kim Ho-jung: What about that scene when I was clearing the snow from the car? Why did you cut it so short? (laughs)
Lee Won-jae: It was my first time in Winnipeg too. But there are days when you’re waiting around to film, or rest days. Those days are when I thought about the weather the most. When you exit the hotel, you hear the winds whooshing around. And I had to look for food in the cold. I’d walk around for 2km and wouldn’t find anything. For 2 weeks, I was just roaming around like this. I would go to a Korean restaurant, and it’d be run by a Chinese person. Since I’m not very good at English, I would also ask the doorman,”Question: Are there Tim Horton’s or Subway…?” and the doorman would reply, “Downstairs!”
“What!” I exclaimed. I went downstairs and it seems like all the restaurants are underground. So I found a friend and tried to find a Korean restaurant with them. I really wanted to eat kimchi jjigae (Kimchi stew), but it was so bad. The owner wasn’t Korean. The entire restaurant’s offerings were not authentic.
So when I think about Winnipeg, I think about how I suffered. But looking back, as time passes, I find myself wanting to go back [to Winnipeg] again. I wonder what the summer would be like there. I heard it’s really charming. I’d like to return not for another film shoot or work, but for vacation.
Johnny Ma: Canadian films that go to Winnipeg are a particular type of film, like Hallmark movies. But now, the film crew was telling me that they got to spend two months learning to make kimchi. They loved it. Our entire production office fridge was filled with kimchi.
It was so funny to me to add more kimchi to the story. In Chile, I realized that [the editors] didn’t understand what this was. So I took them all to a Korean restaurant. But looking around, the Korean restaurants in Chile were full of young Chileans. It seems like Korean culture has really traveled everywhere through the youth.
Where will you all travel next?
Kim Ho-jung: I’m filming an independent movie with Shin Sang-ok, a director that I really admire. I’m playing the role of the mother there.
Lee Won-jae: I need to retire. My current job is to take care of my grandson.
Johnny Ma: “The Mother and the Bear” was just one of the many projects that I had and it became the one that I worked on for the last three years. It’s the only film that I ever made that is first of all, Korean, and second, a comedy. I don’t think I’ll ever touch this genre again. So I’m working on a courtroom drama, and also a sci-fi, so we’ll see which one goes forward. It’s always an adventure. I hope one day we’ll all get the chance to go back to Winnipeg to show the movie.
As Lee Won-jae mentioned earlier, maybe you can go in the summer.
Lee Won-jae: Yeah, I would like that.
