Dear all,

 

Please join us for the screening of Year of the Cat, including a Q&A with the director, Tony Nguyen! Find more information below:

 

 

 

 

" On Father’s Day, we rarely talk about those without fathers—or those with strained, painful relationships with theirs. So, it felt especially poignant to spend Father’s Day weekend at The New Parkway Theater for the Oakland premiere of Tony Nguyen’s autobiographical documentary, YEAR OF THE CAT. What began as an innocent question from his young son—“Who’s your papa?”—became a multi-year, cross-country, and global search for his own father.

 

Tony’s deeply buried desire to know the truth about his family lineage pushed him to have the kinds of difficult conversations many of us avoid—especially with family. He risked misunderstanding, rejection, and pain to uncover a past that had long been obscured. His personal journey to piece together his fractured family story reflects a broader, often silent reality for many 1.5- and second-generation Vietnamese Americans. We, too, inherit gaps—family secrets, fragmented memories, rumors we’re afraid to ask about—and yet we ache to know who we are and where we come from.

 

This film stirred so many emotions in me—and clearly, I wasn’t alone. The post-screening Q&A with the director revealed just how deeply this story resonated with the audience. I didn’t know this was the film I needed, but it turns out it’s the one I’ve been praying for.

 

At a time when so many events, exhibits, and readings focus on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War, YEAR OF THE CAT dares to move beyond it. This is not our parents’ war story. This is our story—about identity, memory, and healing. Tony Nguyen’s film signals a powerful shift: a break from the burden of carrying that legacy exactly how the older generation wants it done. His work is nothing short of revolutionary.

The YEAR OF THE CAT offers us a tool to unpack the layered trauma, resilience, and complexity of Vietnamese American identity—especially for younger generations defining themselves in a post-war, transnational world. I see this as an invaluable resource for classrooms from K–12 through higher education, and even more so for families seeking to understand one another through the silences. It opens up space for conversations about distorted history, trauma, and ultimately, healing.

 

It’s no surprise that it won the CAAMFest Audience Award, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Documentary, and continues to tour film festivals. Don’t miss it when it comes to your city. This is a landmark film for our community. "

 

More can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/papa_t510

 

 

-Professor Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde (University of California, Davis)