The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 2006 Vietnamese film Journey from the Fall (Vượt Sóng) online on August 12 as the next installment of its Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights/Cold War film series. A synopsis, from the film's official site:
"The Americans have broken their promise. They have left us."The online presentation starts at 5:30 pm and includes a live Q and A with Ham Tran, the film's director. Those interested should register online.
(Long Nguyen, South Vietnamese resistance fighter)
Inspired by the true stories of Vietnamese refugees who fled their land after the fall of Saigon—and those who were forced to stay behind, Journey From The Fall follows one family’s struggle for freedom.
April 30, 1975 marked the end of Vietnam's two-decade-old civil war and the start of the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Despite his allegiance to the toppled South Vietnamese government, Long Nguyen (as Long Nguyen) decides to remain in Vietnam. Imprisoned in a Communist re-education camp, he urges his family to make the escape by boat without him. His wife Mai (Diem Lien), son Lai (Nguyen Thai Nguyen) and mother Ba Noi (Kieu Chinh) then embark on the arduous ocean voyage in the hope of reaching the U.S. and freedom.
Back in Vietnam, Long suffers years of solitary confinement and hard labor, and finally despairs that his family has perished. But news of their successful resettlement in America inspires him to make one last desperate attempt to join them.
