The Vietnamese American Experience on Film 06/26/08
June 25th, 2008
The Vietnamese American Experience on Film
The Anniversary by Ham Tran
Thursday, June 26, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Lecture Hall
S. Dillon Ripley Center
1100 Jefferson Dr., SW
Metro: Smithsonian
Award-winning filmmaker, Ham Tran, returns to the Smithsonian with his
first film, The Anniversary, a 28-minute short film about two brothers
separated by the Vietnam War, that began as Tran’s UCLA graduate
school thesis project.
Tran’s auspicious debut film went on to make the short list for a 2004
Oscar in the category of “Best Live Action Short” and won some 30 awards.
Following the screening, Tran will be joined by Professor Linda Trinh
Vo, Chair of the Asian American Studies School at University of
California, Irvine, and Dr. Bich Nguyen, linguistics expert, to
discuss the Vietnamese American experience captured on film.
This event is free and open to the public on a first-come,
first-served basis.
No tickets are required. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m.
Due to brief moments of violence depicted in the film, parental
discretion is advised.
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Media only: Gina Inocencio (202) 633.2829
Smithsonian Presents “Vietnamese American Experience on Film”
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program is presenting a film and a panel discussion on the Vietnamese American experience featuring award-winning filmmaker Ham Tran’s short film “The Anniversary,” Thursday, June 26, at 6:30 p.m., in the Lecture Hall of the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center. This 28-minute film depicts the story of two brothers separated by the Vietnam War. It began as Tran’s UCLA graduate school thesis project and went on to win some 30 awards, including reaching the short list for a 2004 Academy Award in the “Best Live Action Short Film” category.
Following the screening, Tran will be joined by Linda Trinh Vo, Chair of Asian American Studies Department at the University of California, Irvine, and Bich Nguyen, linguistics expert, to discuss the Vietnamese American experience captured on film.
This public program is part of a series of programs and an exhibit commemorating the end of war in Vietnam in 1975. The traveling exhibition “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon” showcases the challenges, contributions, and culture of Vietnamese Americans. Produced by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon” will tour 12 to 15 cities through the generous support of Farmers Insurance. The tour broadens the reach of this historic exhibition, which opened in January 2007 at the S. Dillon Ripley Center in Washington, D.C.
The “Vietnamese American Experience on Film” is free to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. The S. Dillon Ripley Center is located at 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W. The entrance is located at a kiosk between the Smithsonian Institution Building “The Castle” and the Freer Gallery of Art; the nearest Metrorail stop is Smithsonian. For more information, please visit www.apa.si.edu.
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