Broken Journey, Mending Dreams

1992, 56 Minutes

The moving story of a Vietnamese family in search of itself, after the devastation caused by the Vietnam War.

After 18 years in Australia, photographer Hanh Tran is making his first journey home to Vietnam. It’s a dream that has finally come true. Amidst the reunion of tears and laughter, an extraordinary family saga emerges. Hanh's father, Tran Huu Dinh, served more than eight and a half years in a re-education camp in Vietnam after the Communists came to power. Four years after his release he suffered a paralysing brain haemorrhage. The consequences for the family during this time have been far more dramatic than Hanh had ever imagined.

But this film is not just about Hanh’s family, and their past, but also life in contemporary Vietnam - a society in transition. Hanh compares and contrasts this with his life in Australia. He admits to “stepping in and out, of being an insider and an outsider”.

This story is remarkable, not because the people portrayed are heroes, but because of the truly heroic efforts they have made in order to lead ordinary lives.

it is ironic that Hanh's father's detention in the 're-education' camp has now offered the family a new life - this time in the USA. In June 1992 the American authorities allowed Hanh's parents and seven brothers and sisters to emigrate to California. One brother chose to remain in Vietnam.

Hanh returned home to Australia.

A Film Australia National Interest Program. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.