Legacies of War: Vietnam Across the Divides
7 Episodes
On the fiftieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon, filmmaker and program curator Tony Bui presents a multiperspective look at the Vietnam War on film, moving beyond conventional narratives to include voices and viewpoints often overlooked in mainstream cinema. While the most famous Vietnam War films—like the cultural touchstones PLATOON and FULL METAL JACKET—focus on the experience of American soldiers, this selection paints a broader, more complex picture, exploring Vietnamese perspectives, the war’s impact on civilians, and postwar reckoning. Encompassing powerfully human Vietnamese dramas like THE LITTLE GIRL OF HANOI and WHEN THE TENTH MONTH COMES, wrenching documentaries like REGRET TO INFORM and HEARTS AND MINDS, and Bui’s own poetic reflection on Vietnam past and present, THREE SEASONS, these stories of loss, resilience, trauma, and reconciliation offer new ways of understanding a conflict that shattered and shaped countless lives.
Presented in cooperation with the Viet Nam Film Institute. Special thanks to the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations in New York.
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1:12:23Episode 1Regret to Inform
Episode 1
Directed by Barbara Sonneborn • 1998 • United States
In this powerful and poetic documentary, the legacy of the Vietnam War is explored from a perspective rarely acknowledged: that of the survivors whose lives continue to be impacted by the loss of their loved ones. Twenty years after her husban...
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1:25:16Episode 2When the Tenth Month Comes
Episode 2
Directed by Đặng Nhật Minh • 1984 • Vietnam
Starring Lê Vân, Nguyen Hữu Mười, Nguyễn Minh VươngWidely regarded as one of the greatest Vietnamese films ever made, this deeply moving exploration of grief and trauma centers on Duyên (Lê Vân), a young woman whose husband is killed in Vietnam’s post...
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2:15:06Episode 3Journey from the Fall
Episode 3
Directed by Ham Tran • 2006 • United States
Starring Kiều Chinh, Long Nguyen, Diem LienInspired 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...
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1:15:16Episode 4The Little Girl of Hanoi
Episode 4
Directed by Hải Ninh • 1974 • North Vietnam
Starring Lan Hương, Trà Giang, Thế AnhHaunting and indelible, this landmark of Vietnamese cinema depicts the horrors of the Vietnam War from the point of view of a young girl (Lan Hương) as she searches for her family amid the rubble-strewn streets of...
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1:34:21Episode 5On the Same River
Episode 5
Directed by Nguyễn Hồng Nghi and Phạm Kỳ Nam • 1959 • North Vietnam
Starring Phi Nga, Mạnh Linh, Song KimThe first feature shot in North Vietnam is a stirring, strongly anticolonialist tale of two lovers, Vận (Mạnh Linh) a guerrilla fighter for the North, and Hoài (Phi Nga), a young woman from ...
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1:18:57Episode 6Ms. Tư Hậu
Episode 6
Directed by Phạm Kỳ Nam • 1963 • North Vietnam
Starring Trà Giang • Trần Phương • Minh TriAcclaimed as one of the most important films in Vietnamese cinema history, this galvanizing ode to the courage of the Vietnamese women who fought against French imperialism features a stunning performance ...
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1:51:58Episode 7Hearts and Minds
Episode 7
Directed by Peter Davis • 1974 • United States
A startling and courageous film, Peter Davis’s landmark 1974 documentary HEARTS AND MINDS unflinchingly confronted the United States’ involvement in Vietnam at the height of the controversy that surrounded it. Using a wealth of sources—from intervie...