{"id":21428,"date":"2016-05-24T16:35:31","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T23:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgp.ykq.mybluehost.me\/cinephiled\/?p=21428"},"modified":"2016-05-31T10:04:06","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T17:04:06","slug":"interview-soren-sorensen-provides-deeply-moving-exploration-of-my-fathers-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/interview-soren-sorensen-provides-deeply-moving-exploration-of-my-fathers-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Soren Sorensen Provides Deeply Moving Exploration of \u2018My Father\u2019s Vietnam\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"myfathersvietnam-poster\"<\/a>President Obama is making his first visit to Vietnam this week. Earlier today, he made a forceful case for human rights in the region during a historic speech in Hanoi. Needless to say, the relationship between the United States and Vietnam has a long and tortured past. Available today on VOD and various digital platforms, Soren Sorensen\u2019s thoughtful and moving documentary, My Father\u2019s Vietnam<\/em>, provides a very personal window into the human bonds forged and shattered by the war. Set against the backdrop of stunning never-before-seen photographs and 8mm footage of the Vietnam War, the film tells the story of three soldiers \u2014 talented, inspiring friends with so much to look forward to in their lives \u2014 one only of whom made it home alive. Soren grew up knowing very little of his father Peter\u2019s wartime experience, but he was struck as a child by the pencil rubbings his father took during a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, of two people who were very close to him: Loring Bailey, Jr., and Glenn Rickert.<\/p>\n

Interviews with the filmmaker\u2019s father and the friends and family members of these two men he served with give voice to the countless individuals who continue to carry the psychological burdens of a war that ended over 40 years ago. My Father’s Vietnam<\/em>\u00a0will encourage viewers to broach the subjects of service and sacrifice with the veterans in their lives. The powerful film won the\u00a0Soldiers and Sacrifice Grand Prize at the 2015 Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Best Picture Documentary at the 2016 Flagler Film Festival in Palm Coast, Florida. I spoke to Soren Sorensen about this\u00a0emotional film which would be perfect viewing over the upcoming\u00a0Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n

Danny Miller: It\u2019s interesting that you didn\u2019t know many details about your father\u2019s experience in Vietnam since, unlike many\u00a0veterans, he doesn\u2019t come off in the film as someone who is reluctant to share his own experiences. He\u2019s incredibly articulate and forthcoming.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"soren\"<\/a>Soren Sorensen:<\/strong> Yeah, I wouldn\u2019t say that he was emotionally unavailable or closed off when my sister and I were growing up \u2014 it just wasn\u2019t something that we talked about. He may have answered specific questions if we had them, but that\u2019s it. I certainly never sat down with him and heard an authoritative account of his time over there until I started working on this film.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very moving when he admits\u00a0that he felt like\u00a0a different person when\u00a0he came back from Vietnam.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that when anyone goes through that kind of trauma, they come out the other side as a changed person. But we weren\u2019t really conscious of that growing up, he was just the dad we always knew. Definitely an introvert, though. As my mother jokes in the film, she\u2019d talk about herself whether you asked her anything or not, but my dad was the opposite. I think I inherited much more of my mother\u2019s personality type, which is a good thing if you want to make documentaries!<\/p>\n

What impressed me so much about this film is that I really felt connected to\u00a0the two friends your father lost during the war: Loring (Ring) Bailey, Jr. and Glenn Rickert. They seem like such amazing guys and getting to know them through these stories makes their loss all the more painful, even for people who never knew them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, the real inspiration for this film came from our visits to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington when I was a kid. I may not have had a lot of information about my dad\u2019s service but seeing him make those pencil rubbings of the names Loring Bailey, Jr. and Glenn Rickert really stuck in my head for a long time. Those rubbings from the wall were definitely\u00a0my entry point.<\/p>\n

Here is an exclusive clip of Peter Sorensen talking about the abrupt transition he made from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Army’s Public Information Office during his time in Vietnam:<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n