We Were the Scenery

In 1975, soon after the end of the Vietnam War, Hoa Thị Lê Chế and Huệ Nguyên Chế fled to the Philippines in a makeshift boat. There, they were held in a refugee camp and, along with nearly one hundred other refugees, were recruited as background extras in the filming of APOCALYPSE NOW. Written by their daughter, poet Cathy Linh Che, this intimate, richly textured memory piece traces their journey through Vietnam, the Philippines, and the U.S., moving evocatively between past and present, truth and fiction, life and cinema.