Event

THE BETRAYAL

Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30pm
In Person: Filmmaker Ellen Kuras
$9 Members / $12 Public / Includes Reception

Destined quickly to take its place in the ranks of classic documentaries, filmmakers Ellen Kuras (the cinematographer whose work includes The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Thavisouk Phrasavaths film views a broad swath of Southeast Asian history and culture through the life of one Laotian family. 20 years in the making, the film follows the Phrasavath family, uprooted by the Vietnam War, and dropped into the mean streets of Brooklyn. Through her sensitive imaging what Kuras names her visual metaphors - The Betrayal delivers a stunning revelation of the little known world of Laos. Laos was the Vietminhs delivery route for military supplies used in the war with the US Army. Under Nixon, the US Air Force launched daily B-52 carpet-bombing raids. This is one familys intensely personalized traumatic account of that war and its aftermath. The film is a 24 year drama that began as a photo shoot about Laotian immigrants resettled in the U.S. Kuras continued her involvement: learning the language so that her interviews would reveal
the truth and capture the familys collective experience. Central to that story was the relationship between the oldest son and his mother. When the US left Laos, their supporters, including the patriarch of this family, were seized by the Pathet Lao. The father was presumed dead. The eldest son assumes the patriarchal role, and helped his mother raise the other children. The films title refers both to the US abandonment of Laos and the surprising fate of the father. The Betrayal is a true story that is more amazing than most fictional dramas. Vic Skolnick

USA, 2008, 96 mins.