The Empathizer

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0h 59m

★ 0.0

Young overseas-born Vietnamese immigrants are returning to the country their parents fled decades ago. Why?

Overview

Standup comedian Fred Le hears the stories of a diverse range of young overseas-born Vietnamese who made their way back to the land that their parents left following the end of the Vietnam War. The Empathizer explores identity and the impact of trauma among Việt Kiều who grew up a generation removed from tragic events of the past.

Genres

Documentary

Comedy

Production Companies

Year of the Cat LLC

Champion & King

The Empathizer Trailers

Cast

Andy Van

Alex Duong

Viet Nguyen

Sean Porter

Matt Tran

An Pham

Khanh-Linh Le

Levi Oi

Cindy Huynh

Khoa Tran

Vanessa Nhu

The Minh Nguyen

Over the period of 25 years the director met General Võ Nguyên Giáp, a legendary hero of Vietnam’s independence wars, a number of times. She was the first American who entered the home of the “Red Napoleon”. The fruit of this friendship is a film, personal and politically involved at the same time. Travelling across the country and talking to important figures as well as ordinary people, the director finds out more about her roots and offers the audience a unique perspective on Vietnam’s present and past.

5.2

The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder

Oct 17, 1974

After returning home from the war, Vietnam veteran Julius Vrooder resides in a veteran's hospital, where he has been vaguely diagnosed as "psychiatrically impaired." Taking the news with an air of initially lighthearted defiance, Vrooder escapes and sets up camp under a highway, where he builds a paranoia-driven booby-trapped bunker for himself. Falling in love with not-so-bright nurse Zanni, Vrooder soon plans to elope with her to a remote Canadian outpost.

6.4

Music Within

Jan 5, 2007

After a confrontation with one of his idols dashes his dreams of studying public speaking in college, Richard Pimentel joins the Army and ships off to Vietnam. During his service, Richard loses nearly all of his hearing. Joining a new circle of friends, including a man with cerebral palsy and an alcoholic war veteran, Richard discovers his gift for motivational speaking and becomes an advocate for people with disabilities.

0.0

New Home in the West

Jan 1, 1943

This short film traces the journey of the first Ukrainian settlers in Canada. Seeking freedom and opportunity, they came here and became instrumental in helping to open the Canadian West. Though they had little in the way of money or machinery, they had courage and faith in the future and were willing to put in the hard work. Every member of the family helped in the struggle, and in time, their efforts paid off.

0.0

Self Tape

Invalid Date

A struggling actor's home is broken into by the famous acting coach, Sebastian Navarro Rodrigo Rivera, who offers to coach him.

7.0

Napalm

Jun 3, 1967

A variety of locals react to a napalm plant and an ensuing protest in Redwood City CA during the Vietnam War.

7.3

Good Morning, Vietnam

Dec 23, 1987

A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor.

7.6

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Aug 17, 2018

Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control when her secret letters to every boy she's ever fallen for are mysteriously mailed out.

0.0

Hommes-relais

Apr 30, 2025

HOMME-RELAIS spotlights Juan Manuel, a doctor turned community leader who, amid migration grief and integration challenges, guides immigrant men through a life-changing program: forging resilience, belonging, solidarity, and hope.

0.0

Ratamata

Jan 1, 1970

A portrait of the diverse opinions of Chicagoans as they reflect on the general state of affairs in America, the war in Vietnam, social and racial conflict, freedom and personal liberty, happiness, and social justice. Ratamata was made by future Tom Palazzolo collaborator Kreines when he was 16 years old, and was an award winner at the Young Chicago Filmmakers Festival.

6.7

An American Tail

Nov 21, 1986

A young mouse named Fievel and his family decide to migrate to America, a "land without cats," at the turn of the 20th century. But somehow, Fievel ends up in the New World alone and must fend off not only the felines he never thought he'd have to deal with again but also the loneliness of being away from home.

0.0

Latvian Coyote

Dec 1, 2019

An absurd game of “finding happiness” is being played by local Latvian coyotes* and illegal immigrants on the Russian and the European Union border. It is a game with no winner – all participants are driven to play by the sense of despair. While one side leaves home and undertakes a perilous journey to the other side of the globe, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in a free country, the other side risks their freedom to earn a chance to stay right where they are, in their homeland. *coyote – someone who smuggles illegal immigrants

7.3

Hair

Mar 15, 1979

Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.

0.0

Alone

Nov 12, 2021

Fearing for their lives, Afshin, Alain and Patricia fled their country, without their parents, when they were only children. They had to start all over here in Canada in the hope of a better life. Combining real shooting and animated cinema, "Alone" bears the imprint of hope: how does a child manage to rebuild himself in a new country, when he has left everything behind?

5.0

Visions of Europe

May 1, 2004

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

7.0

Displaced Perssons

Aug 23, 2013

Per Persson left Sweden 40 years ago. In Pakistan he fell in love and became the father of two daughters. Trouble starts when the girls grow up and the family decides to emigrate to Sweden. When they end up living in a caravan outside Hässleholm, all their expectations are dashed.

6.2

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her

Mar 17, 1967

As the city of Paris and the French people grow in consumer culture, a housewife living in a high-rise apartment with her husband and two children takes to prostitution to help pay the bills.

6.7

Tropic Thunder

Aug 9, 2008

A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

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0.0

Chin and the Mountain

Feb 28, 2013

A Hmong guide's daily life in the mountains of Sapa, North Vietnam.

0.0

I Am Here

Nov 20, 2017

For Ababacar and Mbaye - two Senegalese immigrants who met and established a great friendship in Buenos Aires - the challenge goes beyond adapting to the customs and living conditions in Argentina, or dealing with the indifference and racism they suffer on a daily basis: both came to an instance of their lives in which they must define a course, and in turn accept that their identities and needs have become more complex. The decision to leave their country was driven by the urgent objective of financially supporting their families, but the stay in Buenos Aires crossed them with new people, new ways of seeing things, and even an economic situation different from that which they found at home. Their different ways of seeing things allow them to see in each other a different version of themselves.

The Empathizer

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Empathizer Trailers