UCLA

Phetmixay Means Fighter is a short documentary film that seeks to explore Lao American refugee resiliency narratives through the life of my father, Phoutone Phetmixay. As the central character, Phoutone’s poetic remembrances of his commitment to the Lao Royal army, displacement from Laos, and resettlement in the United States all serve to consider the complex history of Lao Americans in the geopolitical context of U.S. invention and the socialist Lao government. The film is invested in creating a space to validate a part of my own family’s history by way of mourning, healing, and building community amongst other Lao American refugee families.