This is the story of one Vietnamese family, the cost of conflict and exile, loss of homeland and culture told by the children in their culturally diverse locations.
Writer : Producer : Director | ABC/BBC Scotland 1 hr (prime time)
SYNOPSIS
This is the story of one Vietnamese family. For Charles Tran Van Lam, his love of democracy would turn into a poisonous cocktail that shattered his life. Forty years later, his nine children are flung to all points of the compass.
This contemporary story is about the cost of conflict, the reality of exile, and the loss of homeland, culture and the closeness of family, told through the eyes of the children in their various and culturally diverse locations.
AWARDS
Highest rating documentary for ABC for 2005
Best Documentary, ACT Film Awards, 2005
Bilan du Film Ethnographic, Paris, 2005
AFI Nominated best E
REVIEWS
“The lovely surprise of the weekend’s viewing was the reflective documentary All Points of the Compass which told the story of Tran Van Lam, his beliefs and his legacy, now kept alive through the lives of his children. He led a life of honour and therein lay the tragedy – that the world was a sullied place and that Van Lam had given it the benefit of the doubt….. Deeply moving, quiet, restrained.”
THE SCOTSMAN
“This documentary is a poignant reminder of the reality of exile and the loss of homeland, told through the eyes of Tran Vam Lam’s children. Along with Super 8 …Rymer then blends in newsreel footage, interviews with the now-adults children and her own narration to create a unique perspective on the reality of war and asylum-seekers then and now.”
TOP PICK MELBOURNE AGE
“At 7.30 tonight, take the remote and switch to the ABC to watch Judy Rymer’s documentary All Points of the Compass, the riveting story of former South Vietnamese foreign minster Charles Tran Van Lam and his nine children…… Don’t miss it.”
THE SUN HERALD