‘Ba’s Book’ Director Uncovers Father’s Secrets Over Vietnam War, Revolutionary Iran Upbringing
Ashley Duong has turned her father Anh’s memoir about growing up amid the Vietnam War and revolutionary Iran into *Ba’s Book*, a hybrid documentary and drama. The film matters to her family because it brings painful memories and long-held secrets into the open, including the distress of Anh leaving relatives behind in Vietnam.
The story follows Anh’s path from Vietnam to Iran as a refugee, then to Canada in 1980. Duong combines archival footage with family members and actors recreating scenes on a three-walled set based on the family home in Vietnam; Anh reads his memoir in Vietnamese, while relatives help shape the performances and ask questions about the past. The memoir, *Dear Da-Le*, was published in 2024, and the film is screening at the Vancouver Film Festival.
- Ashley Duong adapts her father’s memoir into a hybrid film.
- The film explores family secrets shaped by war and displacement.
- Relatives help recreate the family’s past in Vietnam.
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Ashley Duong has created "Ba's Book", a film based on her father Anh's memoir about his experiences as a refugee during the Vietnam War and revolutionary Iran. The film combines archival footage with family members and actors recreating scenes from Anh's journey, with Anh reading passages from his memoir in Vietnamese.
For Duong's family, the film is significant because it brings painful memories and long-hidden secrets into the open for discussion and confrontation. The family story involves difficult moments, particularly the trauma of having to leave relatives behind in Vietnam when Anh was forced to flee the country.
Anh's journey took him from Vietnam to Iran and eventually to Canada, where the family resettled in 1980. His memoir "Dear Da-Le" was published in 2024, and the film adapts it by combining archival footage and dramatic recreations with family members discussing their shared history.