Lighter than Orange - The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Lighter than Orange - The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam |
| Original title | Lighter than Orange - The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | Vietnamese , English |
| Publishing year | 2015 |
| length | 72 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK no age limit |
| Rod | |
| Director | Matthias Leupold |
| production | Leupold Film Production Berlin |
| music | Trương Thị Hạnh, Marie Séférian, Fabian Kreutzer |
| camera | Armin Dierolf |
| cut | Nina Mühlenkamp, Thomas Rimbot |
Lighter than Orange-The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam is a documentary by Berlin filmmaker Matthias Leupold about the long-term consequences of American warfare in Vietnam . The film was shot in Vietnam in 2012. (Subtitles: EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, VI, RU) The film documents the stories of Vietnamese veterans and their families who are affected by the genetic damage caused by the defoliant Agent Orange . It contained 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin .
content
There was a good, fruity smell in the air, recalls Ms. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh. Kind of like ripe guavas. Others saw it hanging in the air "like fog". When the planes sprayed it in Đồng Nai Province (east of Ho Chi Minh City) it was like "streaks of powder" or "looked like ground limestone".
The poetic comparisons do not at all fit in with the effects of Agent Orange , which the Vietnamese population is still suffering today. The Hà couple had a deformed child who soon died. It was the same with a second. The two decided to remain childless. Hung's daughter Men, born in 1981, completely lost her memory within a short period of time in 1998 and went from school to foster care. The couple fünf had fifteen children, only three of whom survived. Only then did they find out that the dioxin-containing defoliants can cause serious diseases and changes in the genetic make-up in humans.
Many films critically report on the time of the American war in Vietnam . So far, however, the biographies of the Vietnamese veterans who survived the war but are still suffering from the consequences of Agent Orange's work have been left out. The film presents the fates of former Vietnamese soldiers and lets those affected, who have so far received little public attention, have their say. They speak as an example to more than three million Agent Orange victims about their experiences and the cruel consequences for their families - consequences of political failure. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hạnh (volunteer in the Vietnamese Association of Agent Orange Victims in the Province of Đồng Nai) reports in this documentary on current new illnesses near Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon in Biên Hòa , a “hot spot” Place where the concentration of dioxin in the soil and water is particularly high to this day.
Aesthetically, the film corresponds to its content orientation: It lives from the reserved images of the humble Vietnamese veterans and sung folk songs. The title “Lighter than Orange” is a reference to the changes in the genetic make-up brought with them by those returning from war zones, which, in contrast to actual war trophies, had no weight.
A large part of the film was shot in March 2012 in the Village of Friendship , on the western outskirts of Hanoi in the formerly rural district of Hoài Đức. The project was financed by private funds from Leupold Film Production Berlin and by the Redistribution Foundation, the Foundation for a Solidarity World and the Asia Bridge Foundation in Hamburg, as well as the Berlin Technical Art Academy, from whose environment many colleagues come and which has been part of the University of Applied since 2018 Sciences Europe is funded. It goes back to notes that Felix Klickermann made in the village of friendship in 2009. The Vietnamese Germanist Nhung Lương Tuyết accompanied the recording work in 2012 and took over the extensive translation work in the following years. The German-American artist and translator Julia Metzger-Traber volunteered on the project from 2013 to 2017. The Vietnamese title is: "ĐIỂM LẶNG" in German: Stiller Punkt.
Selection of festival participation
Lighter than Orange received the GRAND PRIZE Documentary Feature Award of SR - Socially Relevant Film Festival New York in 2015 at the legendary Maysles Documentary Center.
Further festival participations:
- New York Independent Film Festival
- Hollywood Film Festival
- DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival
- Finow Film Festival
- Cambodia International Film Festival
- Human Rights Film Festival of Barcelona
- Justice Film Festival, Chicago
- Best Feature Documentary Los Angeles CineFest
- Filmmakers World Festival GOLD AWARD WINNER, Jakarta, Indonesia
- film art festival (film art festival) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
- KLECO Film Fest, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Berlin International Uranium Film Festival
TV broadcasts
- 2015, via Deutsche Welle , worldwide: German, English, Spanish, Arabic
criticism
Although there are quite a few outstanding documentaries pertaining to the Vietnam War, Matthias Leupold's Lighter than Orange manages to rise above the rest. There is something about Leupold's documentary that feels unbelievably personal. The film provides people who were and still are affected by Agent Orange with the opportunity to speak out. Leupold captures these individual stories with such a delicate intimacy that truly exposes the horrifying reality of the situation.
The men and women who share their stories in Lighter than Orange are exceptionally strong and valiant, but above all they are survivors. Yet these heroic men and women survived a long and brutal war only to be hit with even more devastation as they ultimately discovered that the dioxin-infested war fields severely altered their DNA. Four decades have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, but the detrimental effects of dioxin-based herbicides are still a problem today. Rivers and soil are still contaminated by these toxins, which will continue to spread unless other nations band together to help. Thus, Lighter than Orange deals with a subject that is relevant to Vietnam as well as the rest of the world.
Not only have these courageous soldiers dealt with changes to their DNA that have made them more susceptible to severe illnesses, but these genetic mutations have been passed on to their offspring as well. Leupold's film portrays the children born after the damage caused by Agent Orange, and it is undeniably painful to see a woman who inherited genetic mutations that resulted in half of her body being paralyzed. Not only is it heartbreaking to see children born with genetic mutations, but the film also depicts parents who have had multiple children die shortly after being born.
Yet the disturbing nature of Lighter than Orange is exactly what makes this documentary so powerful and historically significant. Leupold's film makes these horrifying stories feel terrifyingly real, which is absolutely crucial when making this type of documentary. Leupold does not allow viewers to distance themselves from the film's subject and he does not attempt to sugarcoat or dilute the perturbing veracity of the matter. The film's poignant authenticity is what makes Lighter than Orange a must-see documentary.
Nevertheless, Lighter than Orange is more than just a documentary about a pertinent and important topic; it is also an incredibly well made and beautiful film. Leupold's documentary is expertly edited and the cinematography is utterly breathtaking. Lighter than Orange is unlike any other documentary about the Vietnam War and should be considered mandatory viewing when learning about this subject. Moreover, Lighter than Orange is an extraordinarily genuine and enlightening work of art.
Lighter than Orange is an official selection of the New York City Independent Film Festival and will be screened at the festival on October 12-18, 2015.
Web links
- Official project website
- Films on the Lives of Ordinary People by Louis Proyect, counterpunch.org, March 13, 2015
- Deutsche Welle 42 broadcasts December 2015
- Emily Green news.streetroots.org, May 10, 2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manon Priebe, Axel Wagner, Chrismon January 23, 2014: Long-term consequences of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War - War never ends
- ↑ Lighter than Orange , New York Premiere May 18, 2015, Maysles Documentary Center
- ↑ Alexia Amoriello, New York City Independent Film Festival review , 2015
- ^ Deutsche Welle, July 8, 2015, Rodion Ebbinghausen The long shadow of the Vietnam War , The Documentary Lighter Than Orange
- ^ Deutsche Welle, November 26, 2015, Lighter than Orange - The legacy of dioxin in Vietnam
- ↑ Alexia Amoriello, New York City Independent Film Festival review , 2015