Documentary - Together
Documentary Feature
Title: Together (working title)
Project Status: Post-production
Logline
30 years after family tragedy drove her into foster care, a Vietnamese-American woman discovers the truth behind her mother's death, two sisters she never really knew, and a legacy of childhood abuse. Through the lens of sisterhood, Together explores healing and the path to empowerment by reclaiming one's own narrative.
Synopsis
TOGETHER is a hybrid documentary feature which follows Juliet, a Vietnamese-American woman, on her journey to understand and reconcile her tumultuous childhood.
The film opens with Juliet, sitting alone in a diner in Virginia. She has arranged a meeting with the drunk driver who killed her mother thirty years ago. She intends to offer him forgiveness for the hatred she’s been harboring, but in an unexpected twist, she learns that her father was actually at fault for the crash.
An old police report confirms this shocking truth. It also leads to the discovery that Juliet, and her younger sister Jen, have yet another sister, who lives in Vietnam.
At its core this film is about three women who come together, first as strangers and then as sisters, to share their burdens and to help each other heal. During an emotion-filled trip to Vietnam, surrounded by seemingly loving new family members, Juliet and Jen, reunite with their elder sister, Hong. They are delighted at the local sights and sounds, which bring back distant memories of a culture lost to them, but their joy soon turns to anger when they discover the very relatives who welcomed them with open arms are the same ones who spent a lifetime abusing their sister.
Despite growing up in different parts of the world, Juliet and Jen know all too well the abuse, abandonment, and loss Hong has suffered, as they too have suffered it themselves. Each woman has experienced a lifetime of difficulties – dealing with abuse, abandonment, loss and the inevitable grief that comes with it. Now as they each return to their respective homes, they must lean on each other for support while rebuilding fulfilling lives apart.
Blending personal interviews, verité footage, and animation, this documentary explores family separation and trauma while questioning the destructive notion that seeking help is a sign of weakness instead of a path to empowerment.
Additional Project Info
We plan to complete the film by the end of 2025 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon — a pivotal moment for our film subjects, as well as a generation of Asian Americans who endured family separation, abuse and shame.
Financials
Funding is provided by the Center of Asian American Media, Jerome Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council, Asian Women Giving Circle, Riverside Sharing Fund, Puffin Foundation, and Love Your Shorts.
Seeking
We are currently seeking an executive producer, impact partners, and post-production funding.
Project Website
Contact
Yasmin Mistry
ymistry@idesygn.com