AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, THE: DAUGHTER FROM DANANG (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. This film documents the reunion of an Amerasian woman raised in Tennessee with her birth mother in Vietnam. The circumstances of Heidi Bub's separation from Mai Thi Kim, their years apart, their reunion in Vietnam twenty-two years later, and the aftermath of that reunion are described through interviews, photographs, and extensive archival and contemporary footage. The first section of the film reviews the circumstances under which Mai surrendered Heidi, then called Hiep, to the U.S. Military's "Operation Babylift" and Heidi's upbringing as an American southerner; this section incorporates interviews with Mai Thi Kim, attorney Tom Miller, and Vietnamese-American journalist Tran Tuong Nhu; Heidi, her adopted grandmother Mabel Neville, adopted uncle Don Neville, family friends Royce Hughes and Wanda Hamlet and Heidi's husband, John Bub, also contribute. The next section briefly relates the circumstances that led to Mai's and Heidi's decisions to locate each other, the efforts involved in that search, and reactions to the searches; this section includes commentary from Heidi, Mai, Tran, Heidi's brother Do Trong Tinh, sisters Do Thi Thu Hien and Do Thi Hung Lien, Don Neville and Mabel Neville. The main part of the film documents Heidi's return to Vietnam, her reunion with her mother, siblings, and extended family, and her reactions to the very foreign culture and customs she experiences in her birthplace. Along with extensive footage of Heidi's time with Mai and her family, this part of the film features interviews with Heidi, Mai, Tran Tuong Nhu, and commentary from some of Heidi's birth family. The final part of the film looks at the outcome of the reunion; Heidi and Mai each talk about their disappointments and their very different expectations; Heidi's brother Do Trong Tinh expresses his regret at the part he played in making Heidi uncomfortable at the end of her stay and his intention to patch up relations. Two years after the reunion, Heidi discusses her reluctance to continue communications with her Vietnamese family.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 2003.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: April 7, 2003 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:20:52
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:78341
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Adoption - Operation Babylift; Vietnam - Travel and description; Vietnam war - Displaced persons; Vietnamese Americans; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1988-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Margaret Drain … Executive Producer
- Mark Samels … Senior Producer
- Gail Dolgin … Producer, Director
- Sunshine Sara Ludder … Associate Producer
- B. Quincy Griffin … Music by
- Hector Perez … Music by
- Judah Gold … Instrumentalist
- Scott Greiner … Instrumentalist
- David Jaffe … Instrumentalist
- Art Maxwell … Instrumentalist
- Van-Anh T. Vo … Instrumentalist, Vietnamese music
- Heidi Bub
- John Bub
- Do Thi Hung Lien
- Do Thi Thu Hien
- Do Trong Tinh
- Wanda Hamlet
- Royce Hughes
- Mai Thi Kim
- Tom Miller
- Don Neville
- Mabel Neville
- Tran Tuong Nhu