The video above was projected as a part of a live radio storytelling experience at Gem Studio in Oakland, CA Summer 2022. This story was told using live instruments and the voices of survivors of the war in Vietnam. It was also shown as a part of The 2022 Fresh Meat Festival.
The video contains doodles, 35mm and 8mm film shot over the past decade, photos from family albums and from a magazine my father gave me called, Boat People: The Holocaust of the 21st Century.
Altar built at Gem Studio // photo by Jonelle Molina
Boat People is chapter one of three. It details the events leading up to my dad’s escape by boat.
Chapter two begins in Da Lat, where my mom is a teenager. On this day, she arrives at the temple for a ceremony but nobody shows up. She sees cars dotting the surrounding hills. Some of them have coffins tied to their roofs.
Chapter three, we hear how my parents meet in a refugee camp in 1978. They are separated and eventually reunite as the result of a letter my dad writes to u.s. president, Jimmy Carter. Although there are elements of a fairytale to this anecdote, it’s important it is not told as one.
Originally created as a class project 7 years ago, this series ,which you can listen to below, was made with other people’s music. The current phase of this project includes original sounds and the final presentation will be a live performance of all three chapters.
This program is supported by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts through the Sankofa Initiative of the San Francisco Arts Commission.