DIRECTOR OF THE JOURNEY OF VAAN NGUYEN TO VISIT OU

FOR FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION

NORMAN – Director Duki Dror will visit the University of Oklahoma Norman campus to present his film The Journey of Vaan Nguyen at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, in 170 Nielsen Hall, 440 W. Brooks St. A discussion will immediately follow the free, public screening.

Dror’s films are parables of the search for identity in the 21st century. In this film, Vaan Nguyen expresses the absurdities of her life as an Israeli-born Vietnamese. Her father, Hoiami Nguyen, was one of many “boat-people” who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. He was given asylum in Israel, where he became the father of five Hebrew-speaking Israeli daughters.

In her blog, Vaan describes how she feels “trapped in circles of identity which will never meet.” A time comes when Vaan and her father return to Vietnam, hoping to reclaim their confiscated lands. Their journey becomes a parable on loss of identity and the fate of refugees.

 The screening and discussion are co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences’ School of International and Area Studies, Film and Video Studies and Judaic Studies programs, as well as the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest. For more information or accommodations on the basis of disability, contact Sandi Emond in the School of International and Area Studies at (405) 325-1584 or semond@ou.edu.