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.

Shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Film, We Were the Scenery premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 where it won the Short Film Jury Prize for Nonfiction. It has been selected for the 2025 DOC NYC Short List and is a 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Nominee.

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

Awards
Shortlist, 98th Academy Award in Short Documentary, 2026
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 Short Documentary, San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2025
Vimeo Staff Pick Best of the Year, 2025
Short List, DOC NYC, 2025
Nominee, Cinema Eye Honors, 2026

70 Festivals and Selections, including:
Sundance Film Festival, World Premiere, 2025
Visions du Réel, International Premiere, 2025
Sheffield DocFest, 2025
Aspen Shortsfest, 2025
Florida Film Festival, 2025
San Francisco Film Festival, 2025
Chicago Critics Film Festival, 2025,
Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival, 2025
Seattle International Film Festival, 2025
Doclands Documentary Film Festival, 2025
CAAMFest, 2025
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, 2025
Ouray International Film Festival, 2025
Afterimage Festival, 2025
Champs Elysées Film Festival, French Premiere, 2025
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, 2025
Palm Springs ShortsFest 2025
Rooftop Films, 2025
Dokufest, 2025
Galway Film Fleadh, 2025
San Giò Verona Video Festival 2025
Drim Short Film Festival 2025
BlackStar Film Festival, 2025
Indy Shorts, 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 International Film Festival, 2025
San Francisco Short Film Festival, 2025
Loft Film Fest, 2025
Virginia Film Festival, 2025
San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2025
Philadelphia Asian Film Festival, 2025
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, 2025
Arena Theater Short Film Festival, 2025
India Doc Project, 2025
Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Indonesia, 2025
American Film Festival, Poland, 2025
Q Cinema International Film Festival, Philippines, 2025
Tauron American Film Festival, Poland, 2025
Frontdoc, Italy, 2025
Glimmerglass Film Days, 2025
Short of the Week, 2025
Le Cinema Club, 2025
Vilnius Film Festival, Lithuania, 2026
London Short Film Festival, 2026

Press:
Letterboxd: Vimeo Staff Picks - Best of 2025
Criterion: The Other Side of the Apocalypse: A Conversation on We Were the Scenery
Film Comment: The Best Shorts of 2025
Talking Shorts: Listed: Top 3 of 2025: Filmmakers, Programmers and Critics Pick This Year’s Most Remarkable Short Films
Short of the Week: We Were the Scenery; Surveying the Oscar Contenders: Documentary Short Film
Business Doc Europe: Awards FYC: We Were the Scenery by Christopher Radcliff
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
Variety: DOC NYC Unveils Full Lineup
Hollywood Reporter: DOC NYC Announces Full Lineup; Sundance Short Film Award Winners
KQED:  Must-See Screenings at the 2025 SFFilm Festival
Sundance: 2025 Award Winners Announced; Stories of Finding Home; Short Film Program 4 Show Audiences the Importance of Belonging