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Seadrift
In 1979, the fatal shooting of a white crabber in a Texas fishing village ignites hostilities against Vietnamese refugee communities along the Gulf Coast.
- Series
- Reel South
- Premiere Date
- May 4, 2020
- Length
- 60 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Diversity Development Fund
Producer/Director
Tim Tsai
Tim is a filmmaker whose past work include directing a series on early Chinese Texans for Austin PBS and editing the non-narrative film YAKONA (SXSW '14) about the San Marcos River. He holds an MFA in film production from U.T. Austin and is a Firelight Media Documentary Labs fellow. SEADRIFT is his feature directorial debut.
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The Film
In the summer of 1979 at the public town docks in Seadrift, Texas, a Vietnamese refugee shoots and kills a white crab fisherman. What begins as a dispute over fishing territory erupts into violence and triggers a series of boat burnings, Ku Klux Klan intimidation, and other hostilities against Vietnamese along the Gulf Coast.
