World Premiere: Screening in the U.S. Documentary Film Competition

20 years in the making, Nerakhoun is the directorial debut and collaboration of acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kuras and poet Thavi Phrasavath. Thavi�s journey from war torn Laos to New York City is a far reaching, personal consequence of US betrayal of our Laotian allies during the Vietnam War.

Ellen Kuras` and Thavisouk Phrasavath`s debut film Nerakhooon (The Betrayal) is a devastating story of a Lao family�s effort to survive the long-term consequences of American foreign policy on foreign soil. Filmed over the course of 23 yrs, Thavi himself tells his story as a young Laotian man who struggles to survive the war in Laos and the consequences of his father's involvement with the US, only later to confront his mother in how to raise their family of ten in a violent, urban America. Nerakhoon (The Betrayal), comes out of an extraordinary collaboration between Director/ Cinematographer Ellen Kuras and Laotian Co-Director/Writer Thavisouk Phrasavath. Told through the eyes and words of Thavi, a young Laotian living in Brooklyn, NY, and his mother, the film moves between intimate personal stories, political documentary, and ancient prophesies. Kuras and Phrasavath have a created a lyrical documentary film in 16mm that fluidly incorporates a mixture of archival footage, cinema verite, interview material and poetic montages. When the U.S. abandoned Laos at the end of the Vietnam War, thousands of Lao soldiers working for the CIA in a secret guerrilla army were left exposed to the enemy. Their families were plunged into turmoil and uncertain futures. The stories of war and betrayal - the betrayal of the US towards our Laotian war partners in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the impact on the Laotian soldiers and their families, and the betrayals that occur within the family - are told through four voices in the film. The voices are: Thavi, the child of war; his mother - the mother of 10 who searches for survival and the protection of her children; his father, whose voice emerges through Thavi`s memory and the grandmother, who recites prophesies and truths which resonate in the new world. Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) opens with a scene of children playing on water buffaloes in the Mekong River. Thavi`s voice-over recalls his grandmother`s prophecy: " A time will come when the universe will break. It will break piece-by-piece, country-by-country... The world will change beyond what we know." The prophecy sets the stage for what is to come. The first act of Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) covers Thavi`s early childhood against the backdrop of the escalating war. Both Thavi and his mother paint a compelling picture for us of a family caught in the terror and chaos of war and Thavi`s personal struggle to reconcile his life without a father. His father had been recruited by the CIA in the mid 1960`s, worked intelligence along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through to the mid 1970`s, and was imprisoned after the war by the Pathet Lao. Thavi, along with the rest of his nine younger siblings is under suspicion. His family is blacklisted and Thavi endures several arrests because of his father`s association with the Americans. At thirteen, Thavi leaves his family behind and ventures into the world alone, escaping by swimming across the Mekong River with two blown-up plastic bags. His mother follows two years later leaving part of the family behind. The second act of Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) begins as Thavi, his mother and siblings arrive in the U.S. The family`s future has begun to unravel. Whatever optimism they may have had for their future is crushed after waiting hours for their American sponsor, who arrives and deposits them in a crowded tenement building that is a crack house. Disoriented and left to their own means by the US governmentt, Thavi and his mother try to hold on to the younger ones and pass down their culture as the family disintegrates fueled by the pulling of two different cultures. Thavi struggles to reconcile his dual role as the head of the family and older brother. The film reveals how human hope helps the family survive throughout. It is an epic, immigrant drama full of humanity, wit and tragedy, poetry and ancient philosophy. The form is unique, merging the documentary and narrative in a poetic memoir with the visceral edge of cinema verite that unfolds over the course of 23 years.

Clip Description

Over a 20 year period, Thavi and his family journey from war torn Laos to New York City. Their story tells the personal story of how the U.S. betrayed our Laotian allies during the Vietnam War.