The Vietnam Center and Archive’s 5th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) Film Festival concludes this week with three films.

On Tuesday, April 30th, in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, “The Beautiful Country,” will be shown.  Set in 1990 Vietnam, Binh, born to a Vietnamese mother and a US soldier father, endures extreme prejudice and great hardship due to his heritage. The film stars Damien Nguyen, Nick Nolte, Bai Ling, Chau Thi Kim Xuan, Tim Roth, Anh Thu, Temuera Morrison, and John Hussey.

On May 1st, also at 6:00pm in the Formby Room, the third film of the APAHM film festival, “Hideko the Bus Conductress,” will be presented. A 1941 Japanese film based on a short story by Masuji Ibuse, the film is comedic and jovial, but bravely critiques the military and big business synergism of pre World War II Japan.

The film festival concludes on May 3rd at 6:00pm, again in the Formby Room, with a presentation of “A Story of Floating Weeds,” a 1934 Japanese film about clandestine lovers being torn apart by deceit, jealousy, and family dynamics and secrets.

All film showings are free and open to the public.  For more information about the films and the APAHM Film Festival, visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu/2013filmfestival.

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present four films as part of our 5th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) Film Festival from April 25th-May 3rd.  The first film, “New Year Baby,” will be shown at 6:00pm on April 25th at the Helen DeVitt Jones Auditorium of the Museum of Texas Tech University.  A lecture and Q&A session with the filmmaker, Socheata Poeuv, will follow the film at 7:30 as part of the Vietnam Center and Archive’s Guest Lecture Series (www.vietnam.ttu.edu/gls), and is cosponsored by the Museum of Texas Tech University.

The second film, “The Beautiful Country,” will be shown on April 30th at 6:00pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.  On May 1st, also at 6:00pm in the Formby Room, the third film, “Hideko the Bus Conductress,” will be presented.  The film festival concludes on May 3rd at 6:00pm, again in the Formby Room, with a presentation of “A Story of Floating Weeds.”

All film showings are free and open to the public.  For more information about the films and the APAHM Film Festival, visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu/2013filmfestival.

Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
Friday, February 15th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served, and entertainment may include a special presentation by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

February 10, 2013, ushers in the Lunar Year of the Snake. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Snake is believed to be a year of peace and prosperity. The snake is an important part of life in Vietnam. People born in the Year of the Snake are endowed with wisdom and excel in finding solutions to problems. They are usually successful in life and lucky with money.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us on February 15, 2013 as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

The Vietnam Center and Archive employs five student assistants to scan the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association/Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation Collection’s Orderly Departure Program Application files. Two new students joined us in September: Corey and Emily.

Corey

A marketing major, with a Global Supply Chain Management Certificate in Energy, Corey is from Meridian, MS. He loves to travel and explore different cultures. Corey enjoys the energy, community, and traditions of Tech, and says Tech “…feels like family.”

Emily

An anthropology major from Laguna Beach, CA, where she worked with and studied Marine life, Emily enjoys video games and sci-fi films and shows, especially Star Trek. Emily came to TTU partly due to a family connection: her grandparents are Tech graduates who met here.

Frances

A history major with a women’s studies minor, Frances is from Bulverde, TX and will graduate in May 2013. She studied abroad in France and enjoys traveling. She is a talented writer and fencer, and a huge Avengers fan. Frances plans future graduate work on Khuc Minh Tho and U.S. Diplomacy.

Quynh

Quynh is from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and will graduate with an MBA in May 2013. She enjoys traveling, movies, surfing the the internet, and going out with friends. Quynh has traveled to Oregon and California, visiting friends and family and historic and beautiful parks like Yosemite.

Trang

Double majoring in finance and accounting, Trang is from Hue, Vietnam’s old imperial city. She is a fantastic cook and enjoys music, movies, and traveling. In 2005 Trang studied English in Singapore. Trang has traveled to several major cities throughout Texas and she spent Winter Break 2011 in Florida.

Children with Lanterns. Ogden Williams Collection.

Today marks the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon or Full Moon Festival. Traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon appears larger than it does on any other night of the year, the Mid Autumn Moon Festival (Tet Trung Thu) is the second biggest holiday in Vietnam and is widely celebrated throughout Asia.

Kathryn Campbell Collection. Drawing by eight year old Thi Thi Bich Nhi, titled Chi Hang, or “The Moon Goddess.” Depicts both the Vietnamese Man in the Moon, Chu Cuoi, and the Chinese Woman in the Moon associated with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

It is a time for family and to celebrate life, prosperity, and the harvest. During the Mid-Autumn festival, parents prepare their children’s favorite dishes and buy them new toys. Children hear the story of Chu Cuoi (the man in the moon) and other fairytales. Hanging and floating lanterns are set out to decorate and people dance the lion and dragon dances. Mooncakes (made from lotus seed, ground beans, and containing a bright salted egg yolk in the center) are given to family and friends. Pomelo fruit and watermelon seeds are a special treat. At night children parade through the streets to the beat of drums wearing Paper Mache masks and carrying lanterns in the shapes of stars, rabbit heads, fish (carpe), butterflies, or lanterns with a lit candle inside that makes shapes spin representing the seasonal spinning of the earth.

Photo courtesy of wikicommons. Author:Viethavvh

On February 1st, 2012, five student assistants began scanning the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association/Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation Collection’s Orderly Departure Program Application files.

Quynh

Quynh

A business (MBA) major from Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon), Quynh enjoys surfing the internet, music, movies, news, going out with friends, and traveling. She has traveled to Oregon and will travel to California this summer. Quynh wants to go to Japan and Korea someday.

Maggie

Maggie

A Vietnamese American from Dallas majoring in nursing, Maggie enjoys working out, playing with her niece, and shopping.

Dai

Dai

A finance major from beautiful Da Lat, Vietnam’s California, Dai loves soccer, and plays intramural soccer at Tech, center and mid positions. He enjoys music, playing the guitar, and drinking coffee.

Trang

Trang

A finance major from Hue, Vietnam’s old imperial city, Trang enjoys music, movies, and traveling. She has studied in Singapore, has traveled to Florida, and hopes to go to Europe someday.

Frances

Frances

A history major, with a Women’s Studies minor, from Bulverde, Frances enjoys reading, writing, traveling, fencing, sailing, scuba diving, and water skiing. She will be studying in France this summer and looks forward to writing a Ph.D. dissertation on Khuc Minh Tho.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), a nationally recognized time to celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the United States’ history, culture, and society.  May was chosen as APAHM due to two important historical dates and events relating to the contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans to the U.S. taking place in May. First, May 7, 1843 is the date the first Japanese immigrants to the U.S. arrived. Second, May 10, 1869 is when the transcontinental railroad was completed; many Chinese immigrants labored laying the tracks.

To celebrate APAHM, we have updated our APAHM online exhibit to include new information and materials, including items from the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association collection Orderly Departure Program files that are currently being digitized.  These records, donated by the Vietnamese American Historical Foundation, document the history of many Vietnamese who immigrated to the US after the war and who eventually became US citizens.

To find out more about APAHM, view our APAHM online exhibit.

The 4th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Film Festival continues today with two films:

Indochine - 3:30pm

Thanh’s War – 7:30pm

And concludes tomorrow with:

The Scent of Green Papaya - 3:30pm

Sita Sings the Blues - 7:30pm

All showings will be in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.  Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information see www.vietnam.ttu.edu/2012filmfestival

The 4th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Film Festival begins today with two films:

Sita Sings the Blues – 3:30pm

The Scent of Green Papaya – 7:30pm

And continues tomorrow with:

Thanh’s War – 3:30pm

Indochine – 7:30pm

All showings will be in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.  Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information see www.vietnam.ttu.edu/2012filmfestival

On February 1st five student workers started digitizing the Orderly Departure Program (ODP) Application Files of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA) Collection.  These files record this history of over 10,000 Vietnamese who applied to immigrate to the United States and other countries following the end of the Vietnam War.  Many of the applicants in this collection spent years in reeducation camps before immigrating.

The FVPPA collection was brought to the Vietnam Center and Archive in 2005 by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation.  This year the VNCA received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for a three year, $144,000 project to digitize the files and make them available through the Virtual Vietnam Archive.  This is the second grant we have received for this collection from the NHPRC.  In 2008 we received funding to process the collection to make the physical materials available to researchers.  Since the start of the digitization project, work has been proceeding quickly and smoothly.  Currently over 1200 files have been digitized, totaling over 25,000 pages.  This pace of digitization has already put us ahead of schedule on the project.

The files can searched for through the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page (go to Advanced Search to limit your results to just this collection).  Those interested can also track the progress of the project on our ODP digitization page, which lists current digitization totals, news about the project, and files made available online in the past day.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vahp/digitization.php