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.

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