Vietnamese New Orleans podcast

VietNOLA

Hosted ByKim Vu

From the Westbank to New Orleans East, there is a vibrant community of over 20,000 Vietnamese New Orleanians. Once a week host Kim Vu invites a guest to chat about Vietnamese etiquette, ancient proverbs, Vietnamese events in New Orleans, and Vietnamese food. A Vietnamese-American recently arrived from California, Kim combines her own discovery of the local Vietnamese community with her deep familiarity and love of Vietnamese life and customs. Kim and guests weave a tapestry of fun and pho, Hanoi and poboy, as VietNola explores the world of Vietnamese New Orleanians, here and in Vietnam.

A Village Called Versailles – VietNOLA – It’s New Orleans

April 10, 2014 VietNOLA Comments Off on A Village Called Versailles – VietNOLA – It’s New Orleans
The Vietnamese were among the first to return to the City to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina – in many cases before there was a promise of any kind of assistance from government, Brad Pitt, or anyone else.  As things began to return to normal, the City of New Orleans released plans for the creation of a dump for storm-related waste less than two miles from the densest settlement of Vietnamese people in the New Orleans area. 
The proposed dump served as a catalyst for a kind of community activism that nobody had ever associated with the Vietnamese community, and filmmaker Leo Chiang was on the ground to capture it in his award-winning documentary, “A Village Called Versailles”.  
This week Leo Chiang visited VietNOLA to talk with us about how he became acquainted with the Vietnamese of New Orleans, and what it was about the story that resonated with him as a filmmaker and with audiences around the country.