In war saga 'The Sympathizer,' Vietnamese voices are no longer stuck in the background
For decades, Vietnamese people often been relegated to the background in popular cinematic depictions of the Vietnam War
Vietnamese journalist-turned-filmmaker Phanxinê remembers exactly when he decided to make movies in his native country rather than Hollywood.
It was in 2008 but it could have been a satirical scene out of the Vietnam Era-novel “The Sympathizer.” Someone from a movie studio visiting his University of Southern California film class told him his story pitch about a Vietnamese American woman traveling the U.S. would only work if the heroine was white.
Having a white star would give the film “a broader audience,” Phanxinê recounts being told.
“It is the moment I realized that if I want to stay in America, I have to do a movie about Caucasian people," said Phanxinê, who goes by a one-name moniker professionally. The reason I want to be a filmmaker is because I want to tell the story that I know the story about my people, my country, my culture.”
