Kieu [p.3]

NHA: How long did it take?

THV: From the beginning conception to going into production, it was two years.

NHA: And at what point in that process did you have the idea that this was going to be a feature-length film?

THV: One day we decided we were done with the creative writing part, let’s just act out the scenes, and time it, and see how long it’s gonna be [laughs]! Then we were like, “Oh, shit!” So there came a point when I sat down with everyone and said, “You know what, I can’t shoot this, this is too expensive! We don’t have money to shoot eight characters—let’s cut this down. Tremendously.” I told [the writers] “we might not be able to shoot in Viet Nam, so let’s cut this out, we might not be able to shoot in a Buddhist temple, it’s too complicated.” So because of limited resources we had to limit ourselves a lot. Which is kind of a cliched, sad thing, when artists can’t make what they want to make. But it’s true. It changes your story so much.

NHA: What from the workers’ stories made it into the film?

THV: A lot. We didn’t try to represent any particular woman’s experience or story. We made an effort not to do that. We tried to mesh everyone’s collective story into this one imaginary fictional character. In terms of their similar experiences—supporting their families back home, oftentimes their whole villages. Or being a working mom, and having a family that they go home to. Their experiences of escaping Viet Nam. And doing a lot of charity work. Through the temple, through giving money to relatives, to people they don’t know. Being very generous with what they made. And somehow “even-ing out your fate.”

NHA: To make up for their feelings about what they had to do?

THV: I can’t speak for them. But that’s one of the things that intrigued me the most. These are some of the most generous people I know. They spend so much time—even fasting. Going through a religious process that many people I know don’t go through. Accepting your fate, but also doing things like “making up” for your fate.

NHA: It sounds like they’re very deep and complex people.

THV: Oh, yeah, definitely. We tried to retell their stories in just the truest way possible without making any judgments or having any preconceptions. I felt that the collaborative team was the tool by which the story could be told, but not to make a statement.

NHA: You brought a very compassionate attitude to the process. What was the emotional message you wanted to convey?

THV: Definitely a lot of sympathy, heartfelt “mirror-image” kind of thing. That anyone could relate to these women. Stir up universal similarities. They’re not defined by their occupation, but by who they are and the sacrifices they make. I think any immigrant woman could relate to her character.

NHA: What qualities parallel Vietnamese immigrant women’s experiences in general?

THV: The challenges she goes through as an immigrant woman, as someone who has limits in terms of occupation and opportunity. Challenges of language, and everything else that goes along with being an Asian woman.

NHA: Was it difficult dealing with the sexual side of this?