POV

What a fantastic and moving film. I appreciate the openness of the whole family. I don't imagine that it was easy to let strangers in to see the most personal moments of your lives. Thank you for making this.

To Annette Boyer: Perhaps you would meet the challenge of your country bombed flat and you family separated for decades with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. How wonderfully insensitive of you!

by Benjamin Stringer
July 21, 2009, 11:46 PM

Re: Annette Boyer's comment, "It is completely opposite from this family." Yes, Annette, perhaps it is. That somone hasn't had the same experience or felt the same things as someone you know doesn't make the person's experience or viewpoint wrong and it doesn't make them ungrateful as you have implied. I think the film is moving and thought-provoking. I don't think it's all about blaming America and joining gangs and I thought the music was very appropriate for the sadness this family felt for the loss of their father and two daughters, and so much more.

by C Cook
July 21, 2009, 11:53 PM

Annette,
Yes, there are many success stories. As someone who was in Laos during this period and knows many success stories personally, I thank anyone involve in helping the Lao particularly Christian groups who worked among the Hmong. Unfortunately, for every success, there are many more tragedies, and stories cut short by death. I know those stories also. It was an outcome of an arrogant and ignorant foreign policy. This simply did not have to happen. There were not enough true Christians or Buddhists to stop it.

by Richard Hesse
July 22, 2009, 12:14 AM

To address Annette Boyer's comment, To call the music/tone of the movie "unnecessarily disgusting" and the movie as "for no reason depressing" is very insensitive. What emotions did you feel when Thavisouk's mother was talking about how she begged for money to feed her kids, and how she she still felt love for the man that left her and her family for another woman, or when Thavi went back to Laos and finally saw his sisters and grandmother again?

This was very well made, because throughout the film, I constantly found myself looking through the eyes of Thavi, or his mother, or whoever was on camera talking about their tribulations, and the music just enhanced my Empathy.

I pray that Thavi's family can soon be reunited.

by Al Badsha
July 22, 2009, 12:25 AM

This was a very powerful film. A look into a family that was torn by events beyond their control. I have seen other films about different people from different countries that come to America and I see a familiar "theme" i guess i would have to say for a lack of a better word. I see that American society is a selfish and materialistic culture in many ways. Greed plays into our lives every day. Most of us that have been born here or raised here from an early age seem to take this for granted. This is just the way America is. I see how destructive this can be to people from other lands with different cultures. It really seems to hit them in the face so to speak. It is very much in the forefront of how they see America. Most of us are affected by this, but few of us see this.
I am not "bashing " America, I love my country, but not the "culture" of modern America. This is just one facet of the film. But it really shines through in many of these films that I have seen.
I worked with a friend from Laos for three years and he told me many stories of his family and the struggles they had in Laos and in coming to and living in America. This film touched me in the same way as hearing it firsthand.
I think that this film was put together in a sensitive and loving way that shows throughout.
I wish Thavi and his family well and hope that they will stay in touch with one another.

by Scott E
July 22, 2009, 12:56 AM

What an amazing story. I was a young teenager when Americans left Viet Nam, and remembering watching TV as the American GIs came home. I will never pretend to imagine how those families must have felt, or how the people of those countries must have felt and continue to feel today. Can you imagine landing in a country of which you knew absolutely nothing? Can you imagine fending for your family in a country where you could not speak the language? Where you did not know your rights? Where you did not understand the culture or the customs? I feel saddened that even today people like Annette Boyer expect all people to see the world through her eyes. To experience the world as she experiences it. Those attitudes are what have brought America to where it is today. Thanks to Thavi and those associated with this wonderful film for sharing it with us. Remember those famous words: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I don't want our country to repeat the past...again.

by Robin P
July 22, 2009, 1:00 AM

The documentary was heart-breaking. And it's so typical of what we did in those days. Use people, then discard them. And if they're LUCKY, we bring them to America, deposit them in a slum with no language or cultural training, and very little money, and say, in effect, "Good luck." BTW, I'm no knee-jerk liberal and have voted for as many Republicans as Democrats.

I'm sure there are some success stories and maybe Ms. Boyer had something to do with them (though it's hard to believe after reading her email). But most successes, now and in the future, will be because of the bravery and perseverance of the families--not the policies of the United States.

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by Bob
July 22, 2009, 1:01 AM

What an amazing film. I was continually struck by Thavisouk's resilience and utter commitment to his family. He seems so pure of heart. I hope he gets to enjoy his life these days as he wishes.

by Christy Doering
July 22, 2009, 1:04 AM

This film was one of the most moving documentaries I've ever seen. It was done with great care and sensitivity. Kudos to the film maker for telling this important story and being true to the lives of these people. Thank you!

by Corbina
July 22, 2009, 2:29 AM

I am surprised this film did not win the Oscar.

Anette Boyer - the reason these ppl are here is because America used their country like a bath tissue

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by raju
July 22, 2009, 2:52 AM

Thank you for such a beautiful film. Thank you all for trying to give Annette a conscience but she has no center. Her comments embarrass me that an American would openly be so insensitive. We started with the American Indian and haven't made much progress. I hope love will conquer hate....someday.

by Neil Walsh
July 22, 2009, 2:54 AM

I come from a Lao family, and although my experience is not comparable to Thavisouk's, his story is just one of many similar Lao-American stories.

I hope this film lets its viewers see what happens when American foreign policy goes wrong. In the Phillipinies, hundereds of veteranos were promised citizenship and a chance for the American Dream during WWII, and it wasnt until recently they were finally recognized by the government. Refugee families from Laos and the rest of Southeast Asia get "resettled" into the poorest neighborhoods in big citys..Welcome to America.

Little is said about the aftermath of war, and especially after the loss in Southeast Asia, Americans don't necessarily want to see a film about 'Nam unless Chuck Norris is in it. I applaud Thavisouk for doing this with his family, for letting us see them at their most vulnerable moments.

by Timmy T
July 22, 2009, 4:06 AM

A poem inspired by the film... Thank you...

If I could meet all of my ancestors
who came before me
on the many paths through Time
that led to my own path now~~
What would I ask them?
What language would we speak?
Would we walk together in understanding
on one path?
What would they show me as we walked
about where
my spirit
belongs?
I know
that our spirits are not ethereal essences
that we cannot touch
Our Spirits are born out of belonging
to a place
To where shall MY spirit return?
as I continue down this path
~~faithfully receiving guidance,
and yet groping blindly for that
steady
Embrace
that means Home
and affirmation of Life
as it should be
in praise and reflection of A~~~
I pray that I learn
the language of my ancestors
so that I will remember how to tell our
stories
~~for our stories guide our spirits
back to those places of belonging
that keep us strong
And in that place
where my stories meet and are one
with the stories of my ancestors
-----I am ready
to delve my hands and my Spirit
into fertile soil.

by christine
July 22, 2009, 4:39 AM

Aloha, The Hawaiian community is a melting pot of people from all over the Pacific region. We have a continual stream of immigrants, some who settle here, and others who move on to the mainland. The impact of these new members of our community enriches us daily. Their music, arts, cuisine,culture,traditions,religion,language, and "talk story" tales, feeds our souls. The film, Betrayal, reminds us , that not all is as it seems on the surface. Films such as this, continue to educate us on history, and the struggles of folks who just need a helping hand. Congrats to Ellen and Thavi...your film is excellent. Best wishes for continued success.

by Malia
July 22, 2009, 6:52 AM

I AM ASHAMED TO BE AN AMERICAN. NOW I AM THINKING OF IRAC AND AFGANISTAN AND IMAGINING THE SAME DEATH AND DEVASTATION TO THE FAMILYS THERE. WHEN WILL IT EVER END?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

by barbara overley
July 22, 2009, 11:26 AM

I just finished watching this film and by the end, I was a puddle of tears and heaving sobs. This film is much deeper than policy and culture. It's a "human experience" documented over a course of years and truthfully expressed.
I feel sorry for Annette Boyer, the first writer above, as it appears that she has not experienced the full spectrum of life. I can only hope that it's because she is young and has not yet tasted all that life has to offer.
Thavi, I applaud your candor and your transparency. Few are so willing to share their life experience with others out of pride or shame, and miss that deep bond of connection with the whole human race. I embrace your sorrows as my own and carry the losses as my own. I bear your burden with you as a fellow sojourner on this 'home' we call earth. My deepest prayers go with you and all of your family.
My husband was German born but raised in America from the time he was 8. His parents came to America after WWll after the fall of Germany. Seeing the sorrow expressed by Thavi's mom, reminded me of my own mother-in-law's sorrow that she carried her entire life here in America for the loss of her brothers, sisters and parents who were still in Germany.
My husband and I were married in Germany during the 70s while he was stationed there during his Army tour. I learned deep compassion for my mother-in-law by experiencing what she had lived as an adult here in America. Even though the Germans were of the same race, same look and dress as my own culture, having that language barrier while living there,created within me such a loneliness and loss of my family, all I could think about was going back home to my family and a culture that I could relate to. I was only there for 18 months, but those 18 months gave me a taste of what my husband's parents had endured for all of their adult life, and that was with both parents staying together. I cannot imagine the depth of pain the Phrasavath family has experienced with their father marrying another woman and having two more children. Even a documented film cannot express the depth of that kind of pain that can only be understood by the bearer of the heart.
If my opinion counts for anything, this film would be shown in every high school, and repeated several times on PBS. To Ellen Kuras and Thavi, as film makers, you have done an exceptional job with your dedication of years and your faithfulness to accuracy in documentation. Your film has created a bridge of understanding for those who have hearts, ears, and eyes longing for that kind of understanding of the whole human race. Thank you.

by Linda Wolff
July 22, 2009, 11:40 AM

I am sickened that these sponsors who brought Thavi and his family here are allowed to do such a thing. Most families who get sponsored are not put in such a horrible situation however like my husband I met in 1980 they were given a home and a little money and said figure it out on your own. I am married to a Laotian and he and his family lived in the same camp and ended up also in St Petersburg Florida. Seeing this movie really puts alot of things into perspective. I know alot of Lao people and they love this country however like any of us living in another country would miss our home also. It was nice to see this and I knew some of the people in the show. Does anyone know how to get a copy of this show on dvd or video?

by Melinda Atsavinh
July 22, 2009, 1:06 PM

This film, The Betrayal, tells such an important story of how war breaks families apart and specicaly the effect that Pres. Johnson's war in SE Asia has had on just this one family. Ellen Kuras has done a phenomenal job of showing this Lao family's story over a long period of time and how hard it is for the 1st and 2nd generations of the poor that immigrate to America. America can be a very hellish place. Kuras gets across the more fundamental message of responsibility, whether it be within a family, a country, or the leadership of the United States. My heart goes out to this Lao family...and they are but one the milions of families in Laos, Cambodia,and Vietnam (including America) that had their lives torn apart by the Vietnam War.

by jack tolvanen
July 22, 2009, 2:18 PM

I thought the soundtrack was especially haunting - and fit the movie "to a T". But what really got to me was the reading of a Laotian text(?) towards the end, with dead-on predictions of the downfall of society... This is just the kind of film we need more of - an unfiltered view of what America has done (how many of us knew about what was going on in Laos? The clips from Nixon betray how we were duped), and a poignant look at one family's rocky transition to life here. Makes me ashamed to be an American - as others have said - Yes, I love my country, but I am amazed and ashamed at how we treat the rest of the world most of the time... like we're the only ones that matter. How selfish and unfeeling. I hope we change our ways before it's too late, and I hope the world can forgive us for what we've done.

by Marc Spoor
July 22, 2009, 3:17 PM

I thought this film was very touching and I learned a lot about our history thru it. The person who said that we Americans are selfish and materialistic. That is not true in all parts of the country. Did you see the people trying pull a family out of their burning vehicle? They didn't even know this family, and they all risked their life to save them. That's not selfish.

Thank you Thav for sharing your story. The big thing I got from the story is something I've been concerned about for a long time. We are asking Iraqi's and Afghan's to risk their and their family's lives by being translators for us. And just like Thav's father, they are left to fend for themselves when we don't need them anymore. This is not right. What would we do over there without them? They deserve our loyalty and a chance for a better life.

Teresa

by Teresa
July 22, 2009, 3:55 PM

This was such a beautiful film, however sad. I was surprised in the update piece on the web site, that Thavi's first reaction upon seeing his long-lost sister was to want to bring her back to the US. It looks so much more beautiful in Laos, especially when compared to the inner city war zone they started out in.

I loved the music.

by Allison Brook
July 22, 2009, 4:43 PM

Sheer EXCELLENCE!
Touched and held me on all levels. Previous positive contributors have already mentioned my main feelings and reasons... I WISH THE BEST for Thavi and HIS MOTHER - HER story alone was so intensely emotionally MOVING it reached all the way into my Heart. immensely powerfully! I WISH THEM BOTH GREAT and LASTING CONTENTMENT and NEW JOYS, and that SHE survives long enough to HEAR all OUR positive "feedbacks" here and from wherever-else they may appear.
Thavi, thy name is 'DIGNITY From The HEART'! And I say, "WELL DONE, Ellen!" I've never seen THIS KIND of Doc-film done this well, let-alone better, and I'm seventy years old! (With a few scars on MY heart, too.) I'd sure like to see whatever the Oscar-committee thought was "better" than THIS film!!!
THANK YOU to ALL-INVOLVED, and to POV and PBS too.
Lani

by Nalani Mack
July 22, 2009, 6:13 PM

How can we, the public, help to reunite Thavi's and his mother with his 2 sisters in Laos before it's to late? He says it is in process, but his mother is very sick. Please hurry!

by Theo
July 22, 2009, 8:15 PM

This documentary was tremendously moving and very much inspiring to me. It striked me with many similarities pertaining to what my family went through when we first set foot on American soil except Thavi's story was much more heartfelt and empathetic. I was only a few months old when I came to the U.S. with my family of six. In 1981, fearful for our lives, my family escaped from Laos to Thailand. During this time, it was broad daylight and the Pathet Lao (communist group) had a big meeting at the Buddha temple in the capital of Laos, Vientiane. My father had a friend who made wooden boats and was willing to give us one. Keep in mind that during this time the communist men was still killing any body or soul that tried to escape Laos. My mother told me that the rain was very heavy during the time of our escape. Once we got to Nongkai, Thailand there were people already waiting to take our boats and belongings. We stayed in a poorly constructed "longhouse" (without any walls) for the next three years alongside of other migrating families. In order to support and provide for the family my father worked as a teacher and my mother wove sticky rice baskets. In 1984, my father made the decision to accept the U.S. government's aid to fly us to America. The government actually funded for my family and I to fly from Thailand to Japan to Hong Kong to California and finally to Louisiana (FYI-We had to pay the government back). Once our plane arrived we were taken to an apartment designated for our family and supposedly the government gave us money ($1500, $250 a person, $250x6) for a new start. My dad chose to go to an automotive technical college while my mother took care of all four of us. We did not have a car and both my parents did not work (they couldn't speak English either) so my mom and dad got welfare to help pay for our shelter rent (apartment) and food stamps to help pay for food but even that wasn't enough. My father use to walk to and from school everyday he had class (five days a week) becasue we couldn't afford a car. I am very thankful and appreciate everything that my parents have done for us all. My parents has carried our family a long way from where we started and it's because of them we are who we are today. I am proud to say that all all four of us have college degrees and have good jobs and my parents are well and we all take care of each other. America was definitely a new beginning and very challenging. I'm just grateful that we got through those "tough times." It was my both my parents' strength, perseverance, and hard-work that gave us the opportunities and taught us what we will never forget until we die...where we came from and what we went through as a family.

I know this is one of a million stories told but I wanted to share my past with and what my parent's shared with me as how Thavi is sharing with the world his story. In my opinion, "The Betrayal," is the best documentary on Lao-American history. It unveils the truth about U.S. foreign policy and opens up a world of struggle and tears through the eyes of the ones that lived through that time and experienced it first hand. When Thavi and his family arrived in New York they were lost, confused, and afraid. I imagined that was how not just my parents but all immigrants coming to a land that they know nothing about (culture and custom wise), could not speak the language, and did not have anyone to turn to. When Thavi's mother was pouring her heart out about how she felt about her other younger children doing bad things and the corruption they were exposed to and accepted I could understand her from my mother's point of view. Imagine if you were a single parent without any knowledge and you could not communicate with your children and when you do they don't say anything to you except you're crazy or they want to move away from you and you can't stand up to them because they don't respect you because they think you're stupid. Instead of feeling love for your children you feel psychologically abused and fearful of them as well. The part where Thavi's mother expressed her feelings on how her children does not think or know what her and Thavi had to go through so they can actually have a shot at surviving and feeding all of them makes me angry that children and teenagers could be so blind and ignorant and not think about their mother whom raised them and fed them (even though she had to begg at one point so they can have food)! Thavi's mother was right, aside from discovering her husband whom she thought was dead for the past 15 years comes back into their lives and visits them for a week giving them hope for a father again then turns his back on them, leave them forever, and marries a new wife and start a new family was the "heart-drop" moment and if she had known that coming to America would cost her this much heartache she probably would of been well better staying in Thailand instead of Laos.

I believe that all immigrants, not just Laotians, come to America for all the same reasons and that is to start over, make a better life, or even work and earn money to send to their starving family members back home. America is definitely the land of opportunity and I wonder if Thavi and his family was to land in somewhere like Florida or California could they have a better shot at keeping their family together or would turn out to be the same in the end? This is just something that the documentary has left me thinking about. But I do know that the "crackhouse" area in New York they were living at during the time they first came to America did not leave them with many options to go anywhere else so I understand Thavi and his mother's frustration in having your whole family in a place like that. I couldn't imagine what they actually had to go through and I would never want to see any family like that go through that but their is suffrage everywhere you go no matter where you go. I would like to extend my appreciation to Thavisouk Phrasavath and Ellen Kuras for making this wonderfully remarkable amazing documentary piece. This fills in a lot of gaps in my knowledge and curiosity about what was life like during the Vietnam war era. Thank you again Thavisouk and Ellen.

by So S.
July 22, 2009, 8:54 PM

To provide some suggestions in response to Theo's comment if Thavi is an American citizen he could probably bring his two sisters over here to America(if the funds permit) to surprise his mother. I am concerned for Thavi's mother's health. My heart and prayers go out to Thavi's mother and I hope that the process in reuniting his mother and his 2 sisters again will come soon....I've always wanted to go back and visit Laos with my family and see my parents reunite with their siblings that they haven't seen for 2 decades.

by So S.
July 22, 2009, 9:01 PM

This was an absolutely gripping film, which demonstrated to me, in the most dramatic way, how one's original culture becomes so imprinted....that it appears this family would have preferred the physical dangers still existing in their country to the "new life" they got in the U.S. (Albeit, the life in the U.S. did have so many horrible challenges.) I applaud you for the patience and incredible sensitivity you brought to this project. It has significantly impacted me and I will try to get many others to view this film. This also emphasizes to me the impact that gifted artists like yourselves can have on the world. Thank you so much.

by Donna S
July 22, 2009, 10:24 PM

A movie about life itself - immigrant or not - we all must share our common humanity....

by Larry Polsky
July 23, 2009, 12:24 AM

Thank you for making this film. The truth about the human experiences in both the tragedies and accomplishments can only be appreciated by sharing immigrant experiences such as this family. As an immigrant to this Country, I appreciate my parents and all those who supported our lives. We should all reflect and be thankful for our individual stories in this world.

by William Lee
July 23, 2009, 5:25 PM

Mahalo nui loa or thank you very much for making this film!!!

The "untold truths" need to rise to the surface, in order for America and the world to heal. The neutral peace state of the kingdom of Hawaii was the first Pacific "untold invasion" in 1893, which spawned the American global imperialistic expansion until today.

Hawaii is now "Home" for hundreds of thousands of the Asia-Pacific diaspora, and this film makes me feel such deep gratitude for having so many be blessed to arrive on Hawaii's shores. There is an Asian cultural base here, as well as our Polynesian culture to welcome them.

This film is a "love story"....."Thavi's love story"....for his mother, his father, his siblings, his ancestors, his culture, and his homeland.... Bless him!!!!

My ancestors filed an official protest and petition to the US Congress in 1897, against the annexation of Hawaii to USA. The US Senate heard their appeal and killed the "Bill of Annexation" by November of that year, but come Spring of 1898 with the outbreak of the "Spanish-American War" the US. Congress chose to "go around their own laws" and wrote a joint-resolution to annex Hawaii for the purpose of creating a strategic military location; and a hub for trade and commerce, utilizing Asians as plantation laborers.

The Asian diaspora of the Vietnam war era arrived after the plantations, and Micronesian immigrants continue to arrive from their toxic polluted homelands.

Hawaii houses the US Pacific Command Center for all military branches.
Only recently is the EPA addressing toxic military wastes sites in Hawaii.

The US deemed Hawaii to be a "state" of the United States of America,
in 1959, but lawfully the kingdom of Hawaii still exists, under a continued
"cloak of illusion", but "lawful domain" still resides under the kingdom.

As we proceed in these times of globalization, "rules of law" must be upheld and enforced on all nations, including the USA. "Human Rights" must be upheld, and "silence" enforced by the mighty can no longer be accepted as the "norm". WE THE PEOPLE must demand international laws be enforced and prosecuted. We need international tribunals to have global authority, without exceptions.

Turning one's back against one's own crimes and sins, is unacceptable.

by Toni Auld Yardley
July 23, 2009, 7:54 PM

WOW!! I just learned about the upcoming PBS film "The Reckoning"
about the International Criminal Court, and the historic changes now
taking place for international justice!!! Mahalo nui!!!

http://video.pbs.org/video/1182396986

"Impunity No More"

By LUIS MORENO-OCAMPO
New York Times
Published: July 1, 2009

THE HAGUE — In 1998, more than 100 states adopted the Rome Statute to end impunity for those crimes that we had thought, over and over, would never happen again, only to see them occur, again and again: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The states accepted their shared duty to punish massive atrocities and created a new actor, a judicial actor, on the international scene: a permanent International Criminal Court, which would step in when national courts failed to act.

An independent, permanent court with a global reach was the object of strong debate in Rome and, for some states, a motive to oppose the court.

The drafters of the Rome Statute were not naïve idealists. They were the ultimate realists. In their lifetimes, they had watched the Khmer Rouge kill millions, they had let Srebrenica happen and they had let Rwanda happen. They had failed the “never again” promises of their fathers.

During their careers as political leaders, diplomats and negotiators, they had tried every solution: They shook hands with devils, sent them off to golden exiles, tried to appease them with promises of immunity, power and wealth. Each time they gambled on impunity and each time they lost.

They learned the need to adjust tactics to a lasting solution. By integrating in one justice system states and an independent international court, the drafters provided incentives for states to prosecute the worst crimes themselves. If the states didn’t do it, the I.C.C. would.

Less than four years after its adoption in Rome, more than 60 states ratified the statute and it entered into force. In 2003, 18 judges representing the five continents were appointed, and I was given responsibility to be the prosecutor. Together, we had to transform the idea of ending impunity into a reality....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/opinion/02iht-edocampo.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

by Toni Auld Yardley
July 23, 2009, 8:53 PM

I want everyone to go to this site, the CIA finally just declassififed all on the secret war in Laos, and Cambodia. They all suffered and unless you knew someone well from Laos, you would never know about this part of our intertwined history. Air America, was a real thing. A move, though not entirely accurate was made about this. My ex brother in law worked for Air America and he was able to help get the entire family out.
http://www.utdallas.edu/library/uniquecoll/speccoll/hac/cataam/cataa.html
The war information was just declassfied in May or April. Unti. then not much could be admitted about the war that we waged on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. As I write thousands of loyal Hmong people are hiding in the jungles of Laos and Thailand evading mass killing by the Communist Leaders of Laos.
Some refugees in the US were went to schools in the US before and during the war for futher education and or military training. My father in law was one of them. These people were on our side and some we left behind. We owe them freedom. Many in the US still owe thier lives to these people. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the.../art7.html - If you go to the state dept site at www.state.gov you can find some information and go to www.archives.gov for more newly release information on the secret war. My hope is that everyone from Laos who fought for the Americans teach thier children that American owes them. That they are and should be honored members of our society. The worked for and with the Americans then and again in the US some Laotion children have gone on to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces. Many have been in gangs but not all. Maybe it is time for the parents to finally heal the wounds and talk about the past.

by Cat
July 23, 2009, 10:34 PM

masterpiece!

by henry
July 24, 2009, 1:23 AM

"The Betrayal" is such and appropriate title, and the longer I thought about this movie, the more appropriate it seemed. The Laotian soldiers who sided with the U.S., such as Thavi's father, were betrayed. They were abandoned with no recourse, and no resources. The U.S. created a war, then up and left not caring about the survival of their allies and the allies' families.
Thavi and his family were betrayed by the "myth" of the American Dream. They thought wonderful things awaited them in the U.S. but found out the hard reality. That reality is that yes there are wonderful things in this country. But there are also horrible things - like poverty, gangs, and drugs. Thavi's family entered the U.S. in the 1980s, which we now can reflect on as an era characterized by heightened drug fueled violence.
Another betrayal is Thavi's father's inability to help his family once in the U.S. SO many betrayals. I am glad that this documentary has at least done justice in the telling of this family's story.

by Andrea
July 25, 2009, 2:41 AM

I find it hard to believe that anyone could make the sort of comments made by Annette Boyer (1st response above) after watching this beautiful, moving film. Yes, much of this film is sad - war is a terrible thing and what the Americans did to Laos and the Lao people is reprehensible. I was in highschool at the time of the Vietnam war and the secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia. A couple years ago, I travelled around Laos from the north to the south. Flying into Phonsavan (which was rebuilt in the same spot as Xieng Khouang, which was completely destroyed by the U.S. bombs), you couldn't help but notice the bomb craters from the air, which are still visible 30+ years later. Walking around the Plain of Jars you had to stay in certain areas because there were parts that have still not been de-mined. MAG (Mine Advisory Group), who spoke with our group, said people are still killed and maimed from these unexploded "bombies" today. Walking through the town of Phonsavan, you are able to see leftover bomb shells clearly marked "USA" in people's yards (they have found some interesting ways to put these to good use). I am glad to hear that the Hmong family "Annette" knows has adjusted well to life in the U.S., but just because one family adjusted well, doesn't mean that every family should or would. Walking through the area surrounding Phonsavan, you can't help but feel moved by what these people went through and sickened by how they were treated by our government (yes, Annette - sometimes our government is at fault). We had a local guide in Pakse in the south who worked for the Americans and his situation was very similar to the father in this film once the Americans left. If "Annette" were to travel to Laos, she would find many people who had similar stories. The Hmong in Laos are still discriminated against today because of their support and assistance to the Americans. And yet, in spite of everything, the Lao people could not have been more friendly and welcoming. I was so glad that Thav was able to be reunited with his family in Laos and to see his grandmother before she died. Thank you to the film makers for making such a beautiful, moving film.

by Ann Schneider
July 25, 2009, 10:55 PM

Excellent.
Very well done.
Thank you.

by Rich Owen
July 26, 2009, 2:56 AM

A very sad story. I wonder who sponsored the family and treated them so badly. They never should have agreed to sponsor a refugee family if they didn't have adequate housing for them. I wonder if they were unscrupulous and just wanted to get some money from the government.

Both the churches I have attended in the past twenty years have sponsored refugees, and in all cases, we found them housing in reasonable (not luxurious) neighborhoods, provided food for a couple of weeks (one family stayed in the home of a church member, and the rest of us brought in meals), signed them up for English lessons, and took them around to find jobs. We didn't just dump them in a slum.

The family was really badly served by the system. The cases Annette Boyer mentions probably benefited from having good-hearted and conscientious people looking out for their interests in the

by Karen Sandness
July 27, 2009, 12:20 AM

I can't imagine what it must be like, how sickeningly PAINFUL it must be to have to leave your home and your children for a new life, then find out that that new life is not the "one step from heaven" you were hoping it would be. I really felt for Thavi's mother throughout this excellent little film. And then to have ignorarmuses like Annette Boyer criticize your suffering and imply that you are ungrateful and unworthy!! Thavi, I hope that you and your family find all the happiness and peace that you deserve and don't listen to people like Annette. Hopefully, she's a minority opinion, if the other comments here are anything to go by!!

by Jennifer Brewer
July 27, 2009, 12:27 AM

This was a very moving film.
To Annette Boyer:
This film is true to the lives of people whose lives are destroyed by ignorant, selfish American led foreign policies and as helpless immigrants throw themselves in the arms of potential well-doers just to be dumped in slums with no one there to help them get back on their feet in a whole new world. As an African immigrant who has experienced this first hand from having my country destroyed by Western-led policies to fleeing from country to country not knowing when we would ever settle down or if my brothers and I would live to see our teenage years, to the relief we felt when we were offered asylum in the US but to the disappointment we felt upon arriving and being stashed in a one window-less bedroom dilapidated house for 7 people to inhabit, it makes me sad to read your insensitive and inconsiderate message. If you have indeed worked with immigrants, you should be able to understand the hardship that refugees go through when they come into a new country; not all of them are lucky enough to encounter church groups and wonderful people, as we later did, to help them. The story of this family is only a microcosm of what happens to immigrants all over the world, not just the United States. It is a relief that someone has finally made this public through such a personal, home-hitting film. The film is not necessarily blaming America (although the US does have a lot of baggage that a lot of people in the world hold against it, and rightly so), it is just shedding the light on how immigrants continue to suffer even when they are in what they previously unknowingly and naively thought was a "step away from heaven" due to many factors such as language, cultural and social impediments. It is sad to see that you could be so insensitive and unsympathetic to this family that has suffered for so long. Apparently, you have not gone through a third of what they have gone through and you have not suffered an once of the pain that they have experienced for so long. i am sure you can not identify with them but people who can not empathize usually sympathize, thats the least we can do for our fellow humans whose lives have been so suddenly and unfairly destroyed. How would you feel if you were the mother in that film and you read an article like the one you wrote describing this film of a family's sad journey as disgusting and unnecesarily sad? I think you should be ashamed of yourself and i think your article was disgustingly inconsiderate.
I am glad many others do not share your naive point of view.

by Aimee U
July 27, 2009, 12:37 AM

I had the opportunity to view part of this presentation in the early morning hours of a restless night. I am a Vietnam War veteran who had interface with the Thai's and people from Laos. Even though I lived Thailand for a year and had close friends there I only caught a passing glance of what you shared with this excellent documentary. I thank all those good people who opened up their hearts and souls, sharing the agony of what has happened in their lives. I feel in I am sure, only a very small part of their grief, and feel the guilt that this country should have experienced years ago. The loss of national intergrity
is always factor that is rarely considered by nations who make decesions for other countries not in that countries interests, but only in their own interests. And then have the dishonorable gall to betray those who assisted them in their efforts. The ripple effect from this and other outrageous wars will continue to plague us to our dying day.
Thank you for this reflective look at our misdeeds and sadly, unless we make great changes, a look at our future.
May God forgive us and bless those who have been immorally treated by our country.

by Dennis H. Westover
July 27, 2009, 5:54 AM

Hello and thanks to Thavi and Ellen for making this film. I missed the first couple minutes but I plan to buy it. Thavi, you have every prayer of good will in my body being sent your way. When I watched your family's story I cried because your journey has touched my heart so deeply. I think you are a beautiful person with a beautiful spirit and I wish I could do something to help reunite your sisters with the rest of your family. I am a Detroit, Michigan teacher of students whose parents, grandparents and other relatives were also helpers to outsiders during the Vietnam conflict. They call themselves "Hmong" and when I saw you and your family I saw them-my Hmong students. Many of the assimilated Hmong students that come to me now in more recent years do not know the history of how they came to be here in America. I actually tell them. They all seem to know bits and pieces of their historical story but I have begun to think that their elder family members harbor too much pain to talk to them about the event(s) in whole. As a teacher of U.S. History, I took it upon myself to develop a lesson (including some language and history)on the Hmong so my students can feel some connection and placement and relevance in American history. I do not understand why the Hmong are not mentioned in our history books. The entire Vietnam discussion should not be had without an
acknowledment of the Hmong and their efforts and sacrifices. I try to educate my non-Hmongs that their friends and neighbors and classmates are not Japanese or Chinese or Korean and they don't want to be referred to as such. I tell my students they should get to know the Hmong as best they can because there's so much to learn from each other. I watch POV often and am moved frequently but no story has touched me in a personal way as much as your story has. I see the Hmong parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles who still speak little or no English representing the traditions of Laos and Thailand as their newer generation(s) become more and more Americanized and I am concerned for their future and the culture they have left in the past. I can't wait to let them see themselves in you when I show this documentary. What a treasure of wealth! Please tell me how I can help unite your sisters with your ailing mother. Can my students and I do a letter writing campaign to the Laotian or Thailandi government? Can we raise money to use toward travel expenses? What? I know the Hmong networking here in America is great and vast an organized. But I want you to know that I am not Hmong. I am a Black woman who loves my students individually and cares about the human condition overall and our collective sense of civic duty. I hope my thoughts make their way to you somehow and I will keep your family in my sincere prayers. Helping you would be tantamount to helping one of my students and their family so it would be personal. Hearing from you would place a smile in my heart. Here is my email address:
mrsjayduwb@hotmail.com God Bless...
-Mrs. White

by Mrs. White
July 27, 2009, 11:26 AM

I see that this is a very sad story, but not as bad as the Hmong people. The Hmong people have no land, and were recruited by the US CIA to fight and protect the US Soldiers. Sadly, they are still in the jungles of Laos, being prosecuted and haunted like animals. 30 years, the vietnam war started, in year 2009, the Hmong are still fighting this war overseas.

Think about that....

Dont know what the Hmong are, great books and documentaries...

Tragic Mountains
Haunted Like Animals

"We hear them calling for help all day and night, they are the forgotten Allies"

by hmonggirl
July 27, 2009, 2:04 PM

The documentary "The Betrayal" shares in depth the very core of human tragedy and strikes someone's nerves to think how often here in the United States we take for granted our freedom! There's people out there that experience the unthinkable and we are too busy and too blind to see.
My P.O.V. is that this film not only awaken and teach all of us but also invite us to make some reflexion about it!...Great work, I love it!

by Bayardo Guevara
July 28, 2009, 2:31 AM

I re-take Robin's comments above to have also a reflexion about two subjects:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." and "Those countries that rise a conflict within or beyond their borders is proven that will never flourish or have progress!

Unfortunately,Yes indeed! We're repeating the past and for us "peace lovers" around our nation and the whole wide world this is happening again with the two endless wars in Iraq and Afgahnistan!

by Bayardo Guevara
July 28, 2009, 2:57 AM

In respond to (Annette Boyer) a comment that was made I hope she an expert in connecting family dots that came apart during hardship. Do you know what it like to be push and pull apart to the breaking point. These family came didn’t have a choices in choosing where to go and where to stay it was a time of war and fear that came upon them.

Imagine being in there position during that cryiss time imagine having to flee from your country when millions bombs are being drop on to you and communist is taking over the country. The family made a choice of coming to American to start a normal life to live not endures repression in a mix cultures environment that they had to deal with and adapt too.

For you to insult this film as being out of touch and dissolute the work Thavis work and his dedication in willing to share is story the world to see and hear. It’s an insult to Thavis whole family and the filming crew who spend the time and resources to bring documentary to life.

by sangkath sandara
August 12, 2009, 1:27 AM

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the making and airing of this film. I am moved beyond words. The first remark made reminded me of many flag wavers who have that glazed over look in their eyes that one can see in many news reels of the masses in Hitlers Germany. Always question authority, love your country for the greatness that it can become but not at the expense of any of our brothers.

by Eldonna Leis from Portland, Oregon
August 13, 2009, 3:19 AM

I have not had the honor of viewing this film as of yet. Your reviews and comments alone have captured and developed an interest in me never felt before. I am anxious to see how the message of this film will spread not only throughout the Laotian community, but also across to those with a lack of knowledge of the American foreign policy during the Vietnam War. I am from Binghamton NY. Unfortunately, the news hold us infamous as the backdrop to the American Civic Association shootings. Although the massacre has passed, it will long be in our hearts as we struggle to move on and ignorance lingers. Assimilation is not an easy mountain to overcome, but it is a barrier that we must all attempt to understand with steps.

by N S NY
August 21, 2009, 12:35 PM

student

i think this documentary interesting i never see any Laotain story has touch my heart,i cried when i see this film.ai thavisouk and his crews doing great work.ai thavisouk i believed his from Paske.if i had the opportunity to get in touch with you i would like to invite you to do interview for my tv show, i am student study media communication tv production, thank you again

by nong goong T. from Redding, ca
September 30, 2009, 8:37 PM

Sad film and commentary

Yes it was a very moving film, here are people that fled from their country and came to America, they met with unfortunate circumstances and gave in to the envonment around them. I came her back in 64 from Peru an my parents only educated till 4th grade and my dad to 6th .. we lived in all the worst areas of New York.. 57th and lexington, East New York, Bedsty, tremont South Bronx, and finaly Jamaica Queens.. there wa snos uch thing as SEL courses I learn my english from a dictionary, my parents worked never once on welfare they had 2 jobs each, my mom was a seamtress in Canal street, my dad a baker for a big companythat made all the hot dog an hamburger buns in New Jersey, but we did not give into our environment, I saw the suffering of my parents and what they did to give me and my siblings the best they could.. yes I saw death I saw drugs, i was always in fights because i was not PR or because I was not Black or because I was not Italian, but here I stand an Microsoft Engineer, I took advantage of what America had to offer I also served my country so these people an so many others could hav edone the same.. yes betrayed is a good title because they betrayed themselves in not trying to do their best.. yes Life every where is hard an I think had they stayed their story probably could not be told maybe they migh thave been killed, but seeing that the daughters and grandmother survived means they probably would have also, we make our own destiny's

by bernard from downey, ca
November 16, 2009, 9:10 AM