Daughter from Danang

After 22 years, Hiep, who has been adopted by American parents, pays a visit to her Vietnamese mother, but it is far from a blessed reunion. The culture clash appears to be greater than the mother-daughter bond, as we see in this moving but never sentimental documentary. In 1975, after the Vietnam War had ended, Operation Baby Lift was set up, in which more than 2.000 Vietnamese children with an unknown American father were adopted by people in the United States. A last attempt to arouse sympathy for the disastrous Vietnam War, according to a journalist. Hiep was adopted by a single mother in Tennessee. She was renamed Heidi, was raised in a traditionally American way and was not allowed to speak about her past. In the beginning of the documentary, Heidi explains how much she longs for her biological mother, for someone who loves her unconditionally, but shortly after her arrival in Vietnam, the illusion crumbles. In telling scenes, we see how Heidi starts feeling more and more uncomfortable, in her American outfit among her poor relatives who are strangers to her, and with a mother who continually embraces and kisses her. When her half-brother asks Heidi to do her duty from now on and support the family, she cracks. Later on, Heidi and her mother separately and candidly comment on the painful, emotional reunion, which makes it even clearer that their expectations never really matched.