Reflective Encounters

“Director Diana Cam Van Nguyen lives in the Czech Republic and wants to send a message to her father. It’s been fifteen years since she last heard from him, after he abandoned his family. After miscarrying three times whilst trying for a second baby, Cam Van Nguyen’s mother gave birth to a baby girl, causing her father to leave for fear of not having a son.

It’s a vital part of Vietnamese culture that a man has a boy to carry on his family genes, for when a daughter marries she is no longer part of his family. Love, Dad wrestles with this tradition that stands in sharp contrast to her own Czech culture. The film opens with letters rushing by in stop-motion, the frequent correspondence exchanged between father and daughter while he was in prison for a year during her childhood. 

Cam Van Nguyen layers photographs of her family on top of these letters through collage, resembling a scrapbook, creating a happy picture of their old relationship. These images are supplemented by live-action reconstructions rendered through animation as Cam Van Nguyen attempts to convey her perspective to her father. Love, Dad is a powerful essay on cultural and intergenerational difference.”

— Lillian Crawford