Two decades in the making, Ellen Kuras' The Betrayal (2006, 96 min) follows the Phrasavath family, torn apart at the end of the Vietnam War, on a harrowing journey from Laos to New York. Thavisouk (Thavi) Phrasavath, one of the sons, narrates in the first person, giving the film an intimate, deeply personal voice. Kuras, the cinematographer behind 4 Little Girls and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, began the project at the dawn of her career, and it shows in the care of every frame - poetic, beautifully shot and devastatingly real, a family saga spanning continents, political administrations and decades of hardship before arriving at a harder, wiser place. English language version. Free entrance.
