Faculty of Art

Integrated Media

Eric Thai

GO HOME!

Length: 14 minutes, 26 secondsDescription: My project is a short documentary piece reflecting on the Vietnam War refugees and tells the stories of Mrs. Hoa, a Vietnamese-Canadian who ran away from the war aftermath in 1975. This documentary's mission is to shine the light into dark corners and view the stories from both sides of the war, to give us untold stories, and to erase the discrimination toward Vietnamese refugees in the Western world in general and in the mind of the Vietnamese young generation in particular.

“The film tells the stories of people searching for safety, shelter, and justice as they traverse almost impossible situations—from dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance, and adaptation; from a haunting lure of the past to an uncertain future. How much loss and death when crossing the sea, adversities on land temporarily, and efforts, difficulties and successes when repeating life in foreign lands in the pursuit of freedom and happiness are recalled in this measure. A film about a step in the history of more than 3 million Vietnamese people. Looking back at the story of the Vietnamese boat people, not to recall the frustrations and resentments that were the driving forces that pushed people to the sea, but to redefine that it was those horrifying trips, the boats themselves. That person, along with the wave of refugees since April 1975, has built up the current strong Vietnamese community abroad here in Canada.”