LAST DECEMBER
1991-2020

Originally labelled “Ngày đi Mỹ” (“Going to America Day”) on a VHS tape, Last December became an evolving film project my father began 29 years ago to document a turning point in the lives of our family. Over the years, “Ngày đi Mỹ” had been edited, remixed, and converted into new media formats—a form of willful preservation; a kind of quilt patching of the past with present-day embellishments. By the time it found itself in my possession, it was hours of footage and audio on a tiny thumb drive.

In its evolution as “social media” I looked to juxtapose this piece against the backdrop of modern day ephemera—infusing a youthful, frenetic energy into this deeply personal family heirloom. A recounting of events and emotions from an alternate, multi-generational viewpoint. Like a looming storm, its choppy cuts and change in velocity graciously grips on to innocence and knowing while bracing for heartbreak and displacement.

In renaming it Last December is to be suspended in a moment in time, at both the end and the beginning.