Daughter from Danang
Encyclopedia
Daughter from Đà Nẵng is a 2002 documentary film about an Amerasian
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
from Vietnam
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
" at the end of the Vietnam War
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
.
Daughter from Đà Nẵng is a 2002 documentary film about an Amerasian
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
from Vietnam
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
" at the end of the Vietnam War
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
.
Daughter from Đà Nẵng is a 2002 documentary film about an Amerasian
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
from Vietnam
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
" at the end of the Vietnam War
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
.
Amerasian
In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries at the end of the Vietnam War , from April 3–26, 1975...
" at the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski is a city in Giles County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,870 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Giles County. It was named to honor the Polish-born American Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pułaski...
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
.
External links
- Official site
- Transcript of the film - PBS
- Daughter from Đà Nẵng from PBS's American ExperienceAmerican ExperienceAmerican Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...
Daughter from Đà Nẵng is a 2002 documentary film about an Amerasian
Amerasian
In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries at the end of the Vietnam War , from April 3–26, 1975...
" at the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski is a city in Giles County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,870 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Giles County. It was named to honor the Polish-born American Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pułaski...
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
.
External links
- Official site
- Transcript of the film - PBS
- Daughter from Đà Nẵng from PBS's American ExperienceAmerican ExperienceAmerican Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...
Daughter from Đà Nẵng is a 2002 documentary film about an Amerasian
Amerasian
In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
, Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), born on December 10, 1968, in Danang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
in southern Vietnam, one of the children brought to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1975 during "Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries at the end of the Vietnam War , from April 3–26, 1975...
" at the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Heidi's father was an American serviceman, and her mother, Mai Thi Kim, already had three children but was working at an American military base where she met him, after her husband, Do Huu Vinh, had left her to fight with the Viet Cong. When the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese army came closer to Danang, Heidi's mother feared for her safety due to rumors of threats against mixed-race children. At the age of six, Heidi was sent to United States and placed at an orphanage run by the Holt Adoption Agency.
Heidi was ultimately adopted by Ann Neville, a single American woman; she spent a year in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
before finally settling in Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski is a city in Giles County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,870 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Giles County. It was named to honor the Polish-born American Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pułaski...
, where Heidi spent her life.
At the start of the documentary, Heidi has been estranged from her mother for several years, after Ann punished her for being ten minutes late for curfew one night by kicking her out of the house and disowning her. Although Heidi has since married and had children of her own, the estrangement between her and her mother has had a lasting emotional effect, and Heidi hopes that finding her biological mother will help her to achieve some kind of closure. Heidi contacts the Holt Adoption agency, and learns that her biological mother, Mai Thi Kim, sent them a letter in 1991 asking about Heidi's well-being. Heidi decides to return to Vietnam, assisted by journalist Tran Tuong Nhu.
In Vietnam, both Heidi and her family experience culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
, as Heidi has no knowledge of Vietnamese customs and her family—who lives in abject poverty—has no knowledge of American culture. Mai Thi expects to spend every moment of the day with Heidi—and even sleep with her at night—which Heidi perceives as "suffocating" and an invasion of her personal space. She ultimately breaks down when her family informs her that they expect her to provide them with financial support, leading one of her relatives to disparage her for crying. Although it is explained to Heidi that most Vietnamese nationals who move to America provide money for family back home, Heidi feels that her own family is exploiting and using her. She finally decides to return to America ahead of schedule, feeling that rather than reconnecting with a family she never knew, she instead feels even more emotional conflict and emptiness than before she left.
At the end of the film, Heidi explains that she has begun receiving letters from her family in Vietnam since her visit, but that all of them turn into requests for money, and she doesn't feel ready to respond to them.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
.
External links
- Official site
- Transcript of the film - PBS
- Daughter from Đà Nẵng from PBS's American ExperienceAmerican ExperienceAmerican Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...