Oscar Qualified: Boat People (animated short)

The Clueless on social media like to pretend harrowing stories of forced migration are a recent phenomenon. The surviving “Boat People” of South Vietnam could quickly set them straight. They have always been a forgotten people, because their plight was made possible by the New Left’s selective “anti-war” “activism.” However, the fall of the South was far from peaceful for many South Vietnamese civilians, including Canadian-Vietnamese children’s book author Thao Lam’s mother and her parents. Lam and Canadian animator Kjell Boersma tell her family’s story in the Oscar-qualified animated short film, Boat People (supported by the National Film Board of Canada), which streams via PBS’s POV.

To many, ants are a symbol of industry, but Lam draws inspiring parallels to their resiliency. Like the ants, her family survives great hardships as a unit. Sadly, that also means some sacrificed themselves for the good of the family. Yet, there was an important reason that justified all their suffering and sacrifice. In fact, that is the film’s big payoff. It is a huge emotional moment, but it also subtly expresses the importance of freedom.

Visually, Boersma and the animators nicely retain the illustrated vibe of its original source, Lam’s children’s book, The Paper Bat, even though they rendered the animation in color. However, the muted palette still reflects the influence of wood-cuts, water color, charcoal, and other traditional Eastern art forms and media.

This is a lovely film with a powerful message. As long as people have a choice, they will always choose freedom over tyranny, even if they must risk everything to do so. Frankly, many Academy voters could learn a lot from this film. The experience of Vietnamese Boat People remains a dirty secret a lot of people want to keep swept under the collective memory rug, despite excellent films like Ann Hui’s award-nominated Boat People and Ray Leve’s excellent but under-screened short film, The Tale of the Kieu.

Lam & Boersma’s Boat People is timely reminder peace is never peaceful without constitutional guarantees of freedom—and family always provides more shelter and sustenance than governments or ideologies. Highly recommended as a keenly sensitive and heartfelt animated family film, Boat People deserves consideration for inclusion on the Academy’s shortlist of animated shorts, due tomorrow.