Summer Cinema: Child of Dust, dir. Weronika Mliczewska
WATCH DOCS at the Komuna Warszawa
Duration: 90 minutes
Tickets: free entry / If it rains, we'll move inside
A dramatic attempt to regain identity by a man who was born in Vietnam as a second-class citizen.
Born during the Vietnam War to a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier, the protagonist of Weronika Mliczewska’s film has never truly belonged. After the U.S. Army’s defeat, there was no place for people like him in the new communist society. The so-called “Children of Dust,” stripped of rights and family ties, were condemned to live on the margins. All his life, Sang has been a second-class citizen, without documents, education, or prospects. Yet an unexpected turn of fate may change everything. To seize this chance, he must “merely” abandon his old life and start anew, thousands of miles away. Years of work on the project allowed the filmmakers to form a genuine bond with Sang and his family, creating a documentary rich in empathy and emotion. With Mikael Lypinski’s stunning cinematography, we come to better understand a man confronted with a ruthless choice.
Child of Dust, dir.: Weronika Mliczewska, 93′ 2025 Poland, Vietnam, Sweden, Czechia, Qatar
Next Summer Cinema screenings: 19.08.
About the festival
WATCH DOCS is one of the largest human rights film events in the world presenting documentaries, in which commitment to individual rights is combined with film art.
Each year, the festival features over fifty world-class films. The festival in Warsaw, a travelling festival in over thirty Polish cities, and an online festival gather over 100,000 viewers combined. WATCH DOCS is the oldest documentary film festival in Warsaw – the first edition of the festival took place in 2001.
WATCH DOCS festival is where every year you can watch dozens of premiere screenings and participate in several meetings with world-renowned documentary filmmakers. It is here that new films by such filmmakers as Errol Morris, Raymond Depardon, Kim Longinotto, Avi Mograbi or Alex Gibney had their Polish premieres. Both legendary documentary filmmakers like Frederick Wiseman and younger generation directors including Sean McAllister, Jean-Gabriel Periot, Barak Heymann or Maria Ramos led their master classes at WATCH DOCS festival.
Co-financing
The event is co-financed by the City of Warsaw as part of the project Komuna Warszawa – Social Institution of Culture.
