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The collateral impact of America’s secret war in Laos is reflected in the extraordinary story of one family’s struggle for survival – in Laos and later in the U.S. Filmed over the course of 23 years, The Betrayal is the directorial debut of famed cinematographer Ellen Kuras in collaboration with the film’s subject and co-director Thavisouk Phrasavath.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. clandestinely operated in the neighboring country of Laos. By 1973 a secret air campaign had dropped more bombs on Laos than were used during WWI and WWII combined. Recruited by the CIA to work intelligence along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Thavisouk’s father is exposed after America’s retreat and is imprisoned by the ruling Communist government. The entire family comes under suspicion and their mother is forced to raise Thavi and his nine younger siblings alone. At the age thirteen, Thavi escapes across the Mekong River to Thailand, and is joined two years later by his mother and seven of his siblings. After living in a refugee camp the family seeks asylum in America, and is soon deposited in a crowded tenement in Brooklyn. Left to their own means by the government, the family struggles to survive and stay together, pulled by two different cultures, terrorized by local gangs, and haunted by memories.
Renowned for her achievements as a Director of Photography, Ellen Kuras has worked for such directors as Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) and Spike Lee (Summer of Sam, 4 Little Girls), among many others, and is a three-time winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s prestigious Cinematography award.
A lyrical melding of memoir, cinema verité and historical inquiry, The Betrayal is an exquisitely crafted tale of a country and a family torn asunder, and the long and painful process of repair.
