| Contributor: | Lap Srey |
| Catalog No. | 46 |
| Length: | 1:59:34 |
| Dates: | 1980s, 1990s |
Keyword Description:
Film covers years between 1984 and 1992, as the Cambodian family assimilates. The family came to the United States in two waves (see film display and written description) and settled first in New York City. There are shots of their first apartment, including large Buddhist paintings, with Cambodian music playing in the background. Other scenes show children dressed in traditional Cambodian clothing and dancing to Cambodian songs. This is followed by footage of a mother's visit to her family, with the men casually dressed and the women in traditional sarongs, and then April 1986, for Cambodian New Year at a rented hall, rather than a Buddhist temple, with everyone in formal dress. The next scenes show a family party in January 1987, in Lowell, followed by the family eating at McDonald's at a highway rest stop (the children eat the restaurant food but the adults cook on the grill outside), followed by shots of kids playing in the Merrimack River, and Christmas 1988 in Lowell, including present exchange but no tree. The last scenes are a "Srey Family Birthday Party," with Madonna's "Like a Prayer" playing in the background and other indications of assimilation.