"The Betrayal": Film and Discussion with filmmaker Thavisouk Phrasavath
Date: Sat, Nov 9, 2013
Time: 2:00pm – 4:30pm
Event Location: Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120-5596
Filmmaker Thavisouk Phrasavath will be here! His documentary won the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. Thavi and his family were forced to emigrate from war-torn Laos after the Secret War on Laos was waged during the Vietnam War. Refreshments will be served.
Across Feats of Darkness and Turbulent Seas and The Lao Oral History Project
Date: Sun, Nov 10, 2013
Time: 2:00pm – 4:30pm
Event Location: Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120-5596
Author Joanna C. Scott relays personal accounts from refugees fleeing oppression after the Communist takeover of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The Lao Oral History Project debuts its first videos of our community’s residents. A discussion will follow led by Joanna Scott, Thavisouk Phrasavath and Aloune Khotisene. Refreshments will be served. No registration.
Lao Immigration Exhibit at Elgin Area History Museum
Location: 360 Park St., Elgin, IL 60120
The Elgin Area History Museum has a long-term exhibit on display about the history of Laotian immigration to Elgin. The Laotian immigration to Elgin was a short, but intense, period in the 1970s, directly linked to the end of the Vietnam War. Elgin church groups started by sponsoring Laotians for immigration, then later federal funding helped Elgin Community College and the YWCA to provide job training, English language classes, childcare, and other forms of re-settlement into the Elgin area. Today, Elgin has one of the largest Laotian communities in Illinois, with nearly 4,000 residents.