Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam

Associate Producer Jared Rehberg scheduled for attendance

“Operation Babylift” was a U.S.-led initiative that airlifted more than 2,500 orphans, many of them the biracial children of American soldiers and Vietnamese women, out of Vietnam on the eve of the fall of Saigon in April 1975.

Known as “one of the most humanitarian efforts in history,” this well-intentioned act was the target of criticism from many who saw the event as both an extension of American imperialism and a public relations stunt to garner attention about the imploding war.

Tracing this saga from the initial failed airlift that resulted in 154 deaths to the current whereabouts of just a few of the 3,000-plus children that were adopted by American parents, director Tammy Nguyen Lee reveals the human aspect behind a landmark event that symbolized the plight of two nations forever connected by the souls of the children who survived the ordeal.

Mixed emotions of gratefulness, relief, grief and loss are conveyed in candid interviews with volunteers, parents, organizations and the now grown-up children directly involved with the 1975 airlift. One adult adoptee comes full-circle with his own biography as he and his wife attempt to complete an adoption from a still-troubled Vietnam. A contemporary look at a much-documented era and its relevance today through the eyes of 3,000 innocent witnesses.
— Anna Petrillo





Preceded by:

Director Adele Pham scheduled for attendance

Two Adeles, both half-Vietnamese women working on similar projects of self-discovery, discuss self-perception, societal acceptance and life as American children of immigrants. — Melissa Bisagni

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