Help Us Complete Forever Spring Documentary

The “Truong Xuan Baby” documentary is now Forever Spring

 

Project Logline:

Forever Spring explores the effect of trauma through two women whose mothers carried them in the uterus while escaping from Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

Story Concept:

Anh Vu Lieberman and Kristyana Pham are two Vietnamese American women growing up in the West. They don’t know each other but they encountered the same experience as unborn babies. During the traumatic evacuation during the Fall of Saigon, their mothers along with thousands of others climbed aboard a cargo ship, the MS Trường Xuân, to catch the last ride out of Vietnam before Saigon fell on April 30th, 1975. On May 2nd, 1975 at 2 am, Mùi Nguyễn gave birth to a baby. The baby was malnourished and lacked medical care. Her eyes were swollen shut because of the unsanitary condition on the ship. She named her Chiếu Ánh, meaning Shining Light in Vietnamese. Others called her the Trường Xuân baby. During that time, Kristyana’s mother was also on board pregnant with her child. She gave birth to Kristyana after they arrived in Hong Kong more than a month later. They became the first group of Vietnamese boat people, refugees who escaped Vietnam by watercraft.

The baby that was born on board the Trường Xuân is now Anh Vu-Liberman. She grew up in an abusive household marred by mental illness. While experiencing so many challenges in life at such a young age, Anh became successful in her career and life. Kristyana was in utero when her parents traveled on the Trường Xuân. She was born in Hong Kong on June 26, 1975. Kristyana grew up in Portland, Oregon. But her parents never talked to her about the escape event on the Trường Xuân. Today, Kristyana still has anxieties and fears. She saw a therapist and was told that her anxieties stemmed from the experiences she felt while in utero.

We see the act of rebirth by these two women as they are rediscovering their journeys of life starting from birth to understand who they are today. Kristyana searches for her birth history while Anh connects with a retired British soldier who airlifted her to Hong Kong.

 

Topic Summary:

This film is about birth and rebirth. All of us experienced birth. Childbirth is a sacred as well as a risky event. Getting out of a birth canal is the first physical challenge for a child in a normal birth. But we still don’t understand much about the psychological effect of stress on fetal neurodevelopment during pregnancy. Does the fetus feel what the mother feels? Would these traumatic experiences affect their neurodevelopment and mental health later in life?

Project Stage and Timeline:

Our Goal:

We aim to complete the film and premiere it on the 50th anniversary of the Truong Xuan voyage, April 30th, 2025. On a broader level, the film tackles mental illness. Mental illness and domestic abuse within Asian cultures are considered taboo subject matters. Not widely discussed or mentioned publicly, these types of topics aren’t dealt with or have an outlet. It is estimated that Asian Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health treatment than other racial groups. However, mental illness cases in Asian communities are high and the cycle of trauma continues to roll down intergenerationally. By speaking about issues that are difficult to address in public space, the film opens more opportunities for discussion and perhaps helps others speak out about their own experiences. With your support, we aim to bring this film to the public via television and other media outlets and use it to advocate for an enhancement of mental health services in Asian communities. In the long term, the film will be introduced to universities, colleges, high schools and libraries and California Ethic Studies curriculums along with groups, organizations or institutions on mental health.

For more information, please contact: [email redacted]

 

Thank you for joining us on this adventure and for your support! Every bit of support is much appreciated!