We Were the Scenery
Christopher Radcliff
-
- 2025
- 15
Biography
Keep It Short · documentary short
In 1975, after fleeing Vietnam, Hoa Thị Lê Chế and Huệ Nguyên Chế arrive by boat in the Philippines and find themselves in a refugee camp. There, together with nearly one hundred other refugees, they are later recruited as extras for Apocalypse Now.
Christopher Radcliff’s film, written by their daughter Cathy Linh Che, gives them control over an image in which they were once merely scenery. Archive, family memory and film history merge in a witty and moving act of reclaiming their own story.
Screening
10 October 2026 · 18:30 · Bersa Brothers Concert Hall, Rector’s Palace
Admission is free. Croatian and English subtitles.
- Direction
- Christopher Radcliff
- Year
- 2025
- Production country
- United States, Canada
- Duration
- 15 min
Sundance 2025 — Short Film Jury Award: Non-Fiction
DokuFest 2025 — International Short Dox Award
Galway Film Fleadh 2025 — Best International Short Documentary (joint award)
San Diego Asian Film Festival 2025 — Best Documentary Short
Toronto Reel Asian 2025 — Air Canada Short Film or Video Award (one of five recipients)