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Executive Summary

Liachoua Lee, a Hmong-American from Rochester Hills, Michigan, revisits his past as a former refugee and son of Hmong veterans of the French Indochina War (1946-1954), and of the American Secret War in Laos (1961-1975), by revisiting places that carry traces of his personal history and the emotional scars left by the war. Lee’s story begins in Detroit, Michigan, then takes him to France, a place where he and his family sought asylum before immigrating to America, and ends in an emotional return to the homeland Laos for the first time in 40 years. The film documents Lee’s re-reading of key chapters of his refugee history, re-creating memories of wartime as experienced by the child he was then. The film follows Lee’s journey of remembrance, which brings his personal story into conversation with others’ stories in the Hmong community, American Vietnam veterans, French Indochina War veterans, historians and government officials, in the Midwest and France.

Awards

• Official Selection and Winner “Best Documentary Feature” Award, 2017, Universe Multicultural Film Festival
• Official Selection and Winner “Best Score” Award, 2016, Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes

Directors: Safoi Babana-Hampton, Swarnavel Eswaran-Pillai, Cyril Payen

Tech ID: TEC2015-0026

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