Since I’m on a Da Nang kick (read yesterday’s post here,) I wanted to offer a review of the documentary Daughter From Da Nang. I tuned in with incredibly great interest and anticipation while we were waiting for Ella’s travel date. I was hungry for absolutely anything that might help me feel closer to her and her birth country. I really am glad that I watched it; it was incredibly moving and emotional and left me with much to think about.

The documentary follows Heidi, a Vietnamese born, American raised woman who was born to a Vietnamese mother and American father during the war in Viet Nam. Her mother sent her on Operation Babylift for fear of her safety. Heidi was raised in America in a cold, mean spirited family who did not promote in her any pride in the fact that she was half Vietnamese. Daughter From Da Nang follows Heidi as she returns to Viet Nam to meet her extended family.

While Heidi was looking for a happy reunion with her mother and family, she was instead faced with terribly confusing and hurtful culture shock. She was repeatedly asked for money and it seems that her Vietnamese family was more interested in her “American wealth” than their reunion. It was really hard to watch this poor woman (Heidi) going through such strong, hard emotions in front of a group of people whom she had just met. I am sure that due to her upbringing, she was longing for a warm, welcoming, loving family. She was welcomed, but extremely off put once she realized that her Vietnamese family expected her to care for them financially now that she was back in their lives.

While it was important for me to see more of Viet Nam, and I did get a basic sense of the country in the film, it left me wanting more. I realize the documentary wasn’t intended to cater to adoptive parents, but I was expecting to learn more about an adult adoptee’s experience who had been placed in a loving family. My heart absolutely breaks for Heidi, who had an awful relationship with her American family and was taught to be ashamed of the fact that she is half Vietnamese. Her experiences as an Amerasian in American as well as in Viet Nam as an adult were startling and sad. Overall, I do recommend watching Daughter From Da Nang, as you will surely be left with new perspectives.

Daughter From Da Nang has also been discussed over on the Viet Nam forum, so please feel free to add your comments over there or here; I would love to hear what your thoughts on this documentary are. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, you read more about it here.

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