Oh, Saigon
credits:
Director: Doan HoangProducer: Doan Hoang
Writers: Doan Hoang, Bret Sigler
World Premiere
USA 2007 | 57 mins | DigiBeta | English, Vietnamese w/E.S.
IN PERSON (at select screenings): Doan Hoang
The old Vietnamese song, Saigon Oi, makes Vietnamese people feel both nostalgic and brave when sung. In this compelling documentary, director Doan Hoang accomplishes the same sentiments. Airlifted out of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, Hoang’s family were on the last helicopter out of the country. Twenty-five years later, Hoang sets out to uncover her family’s story, and along the way discovers some hidden secrets. Her sister, Van, was mistakenly separated from the family during the escape, and was forced to find her own path to the United States. Hoang’s father, who was a major and a pilot for the South Vietnamese Army, has two brothers living in Vietnam. One shot himself to be released from Army duties, while the other was a Communist who celebrated the Party’s victory. Accompanied by gripping images from the war, OH, SAIGON is a complex portrait of how one refugee family attempts to survive the physical and emotional wounds of the conflict in Vietnam by healing political differences, and by having faith in family.
—Viet-Ly Nguyen
Oh, Saigon was funded by CAAM.
This film is preceeded by the following short:
Going Home
USA | 2006 | 20 minsDirector: Hung Nguyen
Set against his mother’s haunting recollections of their family’s escape from Vietnam, Nguyen reveals an intimate family decision that is at once painful and redeeming for the entire family. A deeply poetic documentary from the awardwinning director of HER LOVE/LIFE (SFIAAFF ’06).
—Viet-Ly Nguyen
