Captions provided by CCTubes – Captioning the Internet! Filmed on location in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Long Beach, CA, We Were the Scenery is a short documentary based on the experiences of writer Cathy Linh Che’s parents, two Vietnam War refugees who, while in a refugee camp in the Philippines, were utilized as background extras in Apocalypse Now.
We Were the Scenery premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and won the Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction. It has been selected for the 2025 DOC NYC Short List and the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Shorts List.
2025 / U.S.A. & Canada / Director: Christopher Radcliff, Writer and Producer: Cathy Linh Che, Producer & Cinematographer: Jess X. Snow / Runtime: 15 minutes / Vietnamese with English subtitles
Awards:
Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction – Sundance Film Festival 2025
Best International Short Dox – DokuFest 2025
Special Jury Prize for Documentary Short – Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2025
Best International Short Documentary – Galway Film Fleadh 2025
Excellence in Short Filmmaking Documentary Award – Asian American International Film Festival 2025
Audience Award for Short Documentary – Asian American International Film Festival 2025
Air Canada Short Film Award – Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2025
Best Documentary Short – San Diego Asian Film Festival 2025
DOC NYC Short List 2025
Cinema Eye Honors Shorts List 2026
Festival Screenings:
Sundance Film Festival, World Premiere, 2025
Visions du Réel, International Premiere, 2025
Sheffield DocFest, UK Premiere, 2025
Champs Elysées Film Festival, French Premiere, 2025
Guanajuato Film Festival, Mexican premiere, 2025
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Polish Premiere, 2025
Aspen Shortsfest, Colorado Premiere, 2025
Florida Film Festival, Florida Premiere, 2025
San Francisco Film Festival, California Premiere, 2025
Chicago Critics Film Festival, Chicago Premiere, 2025,
Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Los Angeles Premiere, 2025
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Premiere, 2025
Doclands Documentary Film Festival, 2025
CAAMFest, 2025
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, 2025
Rockaway Film Festival, 2025
Nashville Film Festival, 2025
Bolton Film Festival, 2025
Viet Film Fest, 2025
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2025
OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival, 2025
Kaohsiung Film Festival, 2025
Woodstock Film Festival, 2025
Leeds Film Festival, 2025
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland 2025
San Francisco Short Film Festival, USA 2025
Loft Film Fest, USA 2025
Virginia Film Festival, USA 2025
San Diego Asian Film Festival, USA 2025
Philadelphia Asian Film Festival, USA 2025
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Canada 2025
Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Indonesia 2025
American Film Festival, Poland 2025
Q Cinema International Film Festival, Philippines 2025
Leeds Int. Film Festival, UK 2025
Tauron American Film Festival, Poland 2025
Frontdoc, Italy 2025
Glimmerglass Film Days, USA 2025
full list and more information at:
www.wewerethesceneryfilm.com