April 30th holds a deep, complicated place in Vietnamese history. Known as Black April or Tháng Tư Đen among the diaspora, it marks the Fall of Saigon in 1975, the end of the Vietnam War, and the beginning of mass displacement for millions of Vietnamese people.
In Vietnam, the same date is celebrated as Ngày Thống Nhất (Reunification Day), but for many overseas Vietnamese who had emigrated from the homeland, it is a day of remembrance, grief, and reflection on the losses, traumas, and survival that shaped their lives across continents.
April 30, 2025, specifically marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam American War.
A new wave of people and a new way of life
Now, 50 years later, Vietnamese-Chinese American filmmaker Elizabeth Ai brings a powerful new perspective to this legacy through her documentary New Wave. As a career producer, this is Ai’s directorial debut, where she challenges herself and her subjects to go beyond the surface and deep into layers of not just trauma, but also joy.
‘New Wave’ is a musical genre from the late 70s and early 80s – a distinct mix of pop, synth, punk, disco, and reggae. The sounds of new wave are synonymous with playful, bold colors and unconventional mixtures of clothing materials and textures, bold jewelry and hairstyles, embracing both androgyny and flamboyance.
Being a ‘New Waver’ meant that you would assert yourself as both an individual, but also as part of a collective. It also meant being in community with other Vietnamese refugees striving to move beyond the trauma by reinventing oneself and creating a new sense of belonging in America.
At its heart, Ai’s New Wave documentary feature film captures the spirit of the 1980s Vietnamese New Wave music scene in Orange County, California, a subculture where refugee youth, carrying invisible scars from war and displacement, found freedom and self-expression through mile-high hair, synthesized beats, and…
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