Filmed on location in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Long Beach, CA, We Were the Scenery is a short documentary based on the experiences of writer Cathy Linh Che’s parents, two Vietnam War refugees who, while in a refugee camp in the Philippines, were utilized as background extras in Apocalypse Now.
We Were the Scenery premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and won the Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction. It has been selected for the 2025 DOC NYC Short List and the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Shorts List.
We Were the Scenery / 2025 / U.S.A. & Canada / Director: Christopher Radcliff, Writer and Producer: Cathy Linh Che, Producer & Cinematographer: Jess X. Snow / Runtime: 15 minutes / Vietnamese with English subtitles
Watch the film on The Criterion Channel.
“A wholly unique, witty, joyful perspective on art-making, the impact of film, and how they intersect with real lives.”
– Sundance Short Film Jury
“Poignant, funny, sad, and optimistic. Should be required viewing anytime Apocalypse Now is screened!”
– Viet Thanh Nguyen
“A tour de force… a nuanced documentary that offers a new take on both the refugee story and a classic film.”
– cinéSPEAK
“A deeply sensorial, profound film.”
– Champs Elysées Film Festival
“A powerful act of reclamation that reframes war history through the intimate, overlooked voices of Vietnamese refugees.”
– Galway Film Fleadh Short Film Jury for International Documentary
“A very fun and reflective documentary that is well-shot and edited… that deftly weaves themes of the previous generation's traumas into the importance of having agency of telling one's own stories.”
– Asian American International Film Festival Jury
“We chose a film that is not complicated, but complex; one that revisits history through a deeply personal lens, with a gentle sense of humour, irony, and an uncompromising decolonial gaze."
– Dokufest International Short Dox Jury
Awards
Winner, Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction, Sundance Film Festival, 2025
Winner, Special Jury Prize for Documentary Short, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2025
Winner, Best International Short Documentary Film, Galway Film Fleadh, 2025
Winner, Best International Short Dox, DokuFest, 2025
Winner, Excellence in Short Filmmaking Documentary and Audience Award, Asian American International Film Festival, 2025
Winner, Grand Jury Special Mention, International Section, Kaohsiung Film Festival, 2025
Winner, Air Canada Best Short Film or Video Award, ReelAsian Film Festival, 2025
Winner, Best Documentary Short, San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2025
Short List, DOC NYC, 2025
Shorts List, Cinema Eye Honors, 2026
Select Festivals
Sundance Film Festival, World Premiere, 2025
Visions du Réel, International Premiere, 2025
Sheffield DocFest, UK Premiere, 2025
Champs Elysées Film Festival, French Premiere, 2025
Guanajuato Film Festival, Mexican premiere, 2025
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Polish Premiere, 2025
Aspen Shortsfest, Colorado Premiere, 2025
Florida Film Festival, Florida Premiere, 2025
San Francisco Film Festival, California Premiere, 2025
Chicago Critics Film Festival, Chicago Premiere, 2025,
Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Los Angeles Premiere, 2025
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Premiere, 2025
Doclands Documentary Film Festival, 2025
CAAMFest, 2025
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, 2025
Ouray International Film Festival, 2025
Afterimage Festival, 2025
Palm Springs ShortsFest, 2025
Rooftop Films, New York Premiere, 2025
Dokufest, 2025
Galway Film Fleadh, 2025
San Giò Verona Video Festival, 2025
Drim Short Film Festival, 2025
BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia premiere, 2025
Indy Shorts Film Festival, 2025
Kinemastik International Short Film Festival 2025
Asian American International Film Festival, 2025
Molise Cinema, 2025
Vashon Island Film Festival, 2025
Mount Gretna International Film Festival, 2025
Rockaway Film Festival, 2025
Nashville Film Festival, 2025
Bolton Film Festival, 2025
Viet Film Fest, 2025
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2025
OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival, 2025
Kaohsiung Film Festival, 2025
Woodstock Film Festival, 2025
Leeds Film Festival, 2025
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland | 2025
DOC NYC’s Short Lists & Winner’s Circle, USA | 2025
San Francisco Short Film Festival, USA | 2025
Loft Film Fest, USA | 2025
Virginia Film Festival, USA | 2025
San Diego Asian Film Festival, USA | 2025
Philadelphia Asian Film Festival, USA | 2025
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Canada | 2025
Arena Theater Short Film Festival, USA | 2025
India Doc Project, India | 2025
Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Indonesia | 2025
American Film Festival, Poland | 2025
Q Cinema International Film Festival, Philippines | 2025
Leeds Int. Film Festival, UK | 2025
Tauron American Film Festival, Poland | 2025
Frontdoc, Italy | 2025
Glimmerglass Film Days, USA | 2025
Cinema Eye Honors, USA | 2025
Press:
diaCRITICS: Viet Film Fest 2025: Select Shorts
ABC Action News: 14th annual BlackStar Film Fest. brings close to 100 films to Philadelphia
San Francisco Chronicle: CAAMfest Shows the Vietnam War Is Still in Our DNA a Half a Century Later
The Verge: Behind the Scenes; The Extras of Apocalypse Now
cinéSPEAK: Two Philly Filmmakers Take Home Awards at Sundance 2025
Hollywood Reporter: Sundance Short Film Award Winners
KQED: Must-See Screenings at the 2025 SFFilm Festival
Short of the Week: Sundance Film Festival Guide
Sundance: 2025 Award Winners Announced; Stories of Finding Home; Short Film Program 4 Show Audiences the Importance of Belonging