THE STORY OF VINH

Please view this thought-provoking and unusual/unique film, THE STORY OF VINH, if you missed the class screening. Think about/make a list of the figures who play a role in the film, and in Vinh's experience coming to the U.S.

The Story of Vinh

 Vinh Dinh, the son of a U.S. serviceman and a Vietnamese mother, immigrates to the United States as part of a group of repatriated Amerasian children. The film recounts the poignant and heartbreaking story of Vinh’s journey of transition from Vietnamese to American culture, from youth to manhood, and from dreams to harsh reality.

From the very beginning Vinh has difficulties adjusting to his new life. After a short stay in a refugee camp in Thailand, he arrives in the U.S., dazed, speaking no English and with minimal formal education. A streetwise adolescent hardened by years of hand-to-mouth survival in war-torn Vietnam, he is bounced between foster families and a group home for troubled youth, eventually making his way to the streets and, finally, prison. His experience highlights the complex legacy of the Vietnam War as well as the shortcomings of the American foster care system and the responsibility of the children it attempts, and often fails, to nurture.

McHenry Library's Media Collection has a dvd of THE STORY OF VINH; I have also found it on-line for you to view/study:

https://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/51286/The-Story-of-Vinh Links to an external site.

https://vimeo.com/527390438 Links to an external site.

Discussion Questions THE STORY OF VINH-Screen Shot 2021-05-07 at 11.27.25 AM.png

This film also connects with WKVC? in its historical reconstruction, which we discussed in class as a challenge to the notion that memory-is-history and that narrative is linear; remember how the filmmakers of WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN? presented multiple perspective/narratives, whereas THE STORY OF VINH holds competing narratives. ~Professor Kim