Film showing of “Le Petit Vietnam”

Fri 18 May 2012, 7.30 pm
Cinematheque

From Friends of Vietnam Heritage:

Friends of Vietnam Heritage is proud to present the documentary Le Petit Vietnam. Two French-Vietnamese people familiar with the story, Mrs. Le Thi Ly and her son Mr. Daniel Rocher, will be available for Q&A after the screening.

In 1955, after the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu, the first repatriation centre for French citizens born and living in Viet Nam during the colonial time was established in a small town in France – Noyant d’Allier in Auvergne. For the Vietnamese spouses of these French people and their Eurasian children, it was truly a climatic and cultural shock. Yet gradually, fish sauce (nước mắm) became a local specialty and The Smile of Saigon bar a popular spot as the newcomers settled in this former iron mining town. 50 years later, that mix remains in this community where the natives have in turn married the Vietnamese.

As the son of a returning French man and a Vietnamese woman, Philippe Rostan wanted to tell this unique story, which is also his, before it fades into oblivion. Without comment except for a brief introduction, the film lets the Vietnamese women talk about their struggle to settle in this new country so that their children succeed in their new found homeland while not abandoning their traditions. Their words complement those of the children who still remember fighting in the schoolyard over a racist word with their French friends but also introduced Vietnamese to them. Le Petit Vietnam, after all, is a story of integration and national identity.

Language: French and Vietnamese with English subtitles

Cost: 100,000 VND (50,000VND for Vietnamese students with valid student ID card)

Limit: 90 people

To Register: Please email Thu at [email protected].