Light of the Setting Sun

Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.

In Light of the Setting Sun, filmmaker Vicky Du lovingly writes the history of her family’s encounters with political violence and intergenerational trauma. Through an assemblage of family keepsakes and intimate interviews with relatives, Du tells a story that strives to encompass the myriad, complicated truths of her family. Tracing the events of the Communist Revolution of 1949 that led her family to migrate from China to Taiwan and the United States, she reveals the ever-present entanglement of the personal and political.

While the impetus for the film was the trauma that came to light during family therapy, Du refuses to locate blame in the family members whose pain caused her own. She reaches into her family’s history to grasp trauma at its root and finds that there is no singular truth to be found, only more stories to weave into her own. Light of the Setting Sun is not a simple story of forgiveness, reconciliation, or even understanding; it is a commitment to seeing and struggling with suffering that seems unspeakable. (Written by Emily Liu, San Diego Asian Film Festival)

Film Advisory Content: Mentions of Mental Health Issues and Domestic Violence

Credits
Producer: Danielle Varga, Vicky Du
Executive Producer: Jean Tsien, Carrie Lozano, Stephen Gong, Don Young, Lois Vossen
Director of Photography: Daniel Chein, Jih-E Peng
Editor: Terra Jean Long
Composer: Troy Herion
Sound Designer: Kaija Siirala