Boat People

This film contains photos, doodles, animation, and original music. It is narrated by a direct descendant of "Boat People" and uses classic radio storytelling techniques to tell the story of one family's escape from Vietnam by boat.

  • Truc Nguyen
    Director
  • Truc Nguyen
    Writer
  • Truc Nguyen
    Producer
  • Sanh Nguyen
    Key Cast
  • Xuan Bui
    Key Cast
  • Bao Bui
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 7, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Third Coast Audio Festival 2021

    Finalist for Best Short Documentary
Director Biography - Truc Nguyen

Truc Nguyen (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist, working in sound and image with a background in public radio.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This short film is part of a longer series, chronicling my family's experiencing living through the war in Vietnam.

The unique inheritance we receive as children of refugees can be brutal, especially when left unacknowledged. Interviewing and recording my family members as they confront their grief aloud for the first time has facilitated a healing process in them and in myself.

The more I heard, the more I understood the reasons why my caretakers were unable to show up as their full selves. The more I understood, the more I’ve been able to shift my own pain and pinpoint the root of our ancestral trauma, ending the cycle.