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Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant (born Du Thi Thanh Nga, August 11, 1956) is a Vietnamese-American actress, filmmaker and activist. She is best known for her 1992 documentary From Hollywood to Hanoi,[1][2] the first American feature documentary filmed in Vietnam by a Vietnamese-American. The film examines the aftermath of the Vietnam War and explores themes of reconciliation.
Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1956.[3] Her father, Dư Phước Long, was a South Vietnamese politician who served as the Director of Press and Cultural Attaché in Washington DC, during the administration of President Ngô Đình Diệm.[4][5][6] Following the assassination of Diệm in 1963, the family relocated to Fairfax, Virginia, in 1966. Her father, later known as Patrick Du Long, worked for the Voice of America and authored the book The Dream Shattered: Vietnamese Gangs in America.[7]
Alexandra made her film debut in Sam Peckinpah’sThe Killer Elite (1975), co-written by her husband, screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she appeared in films and television, including the mini-series Pearl (1978) and the TV movie Fly Away Home (1981), which explored the human cost of the Vietnam War.[9]
She also starred in Catch the Heat (1987) and co-produced the fitness program Karatecize, combining dance and martial arts. Alexandra was one of the first Vietnamese-American actresses to join the Screen Actors Guild, breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood.
In 1981, Alexandra starred with Bruce Boxleitner and Brian Dennehy as Mai, a Vietnamese medic in the Warner Bros. made-for-television feature film Fly Away Home.[11][12] The film critically examined the entanglement of politics and human suffering on the ground during the Vietnam War.
As an Asian actress breaking through racial stereotypes, Alexandra was invited to speak on the realities of Hollywood typecasting at venues such as the Philippine Film Festival, where she appeared with Robert Duvall in the Symposium on Film Acting.[13]
Music career
In the early 1980s, Alexandra produced pop songs and music videos under the management of Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones. Her music, including tracks like "Feel the Heat",[clarification needed] was showcased on MTV.
Alexandra's music video of Bruce Lee, "Feel The Heat", was revamped in congruence with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 40th anniversary celebration of Bruce Lee's breakout film, Enter the Dragon.[14]
From Hollywood to Hanoi
In 1992, Alexandra wrote, directed, and produced From Hollywood to Hanoi, which explores her personal experiences as a Vietnamese refugee and the long-term impact of the Vietnam War on both Vietnam and the United States. The film was executive produced by Oliver Stone and received critical acclaim, being screened at the Sundance Film Festival and other notable venues.
The documentary features interviews with prominent Vietnamese leaders, including General Võ Nguyên Giáp, and sheds light on issues such as Amerasian children and the effects of Agent Orange. Critics praised the film for its personal and reflective approach, with The New York Times describing it as "an intense, personal work"[15] and the Los Angeles Times calling it "engrossing".[16]
It was shown at top film festivals[17] and movie theatres across the U.S. and highlighted the plight of Amerasians, as well as the devastating effects of Agent Orange.[18] It received critical acclaim by The New York Times and Los Angeles Times,The Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Boston Globe, Playboy, The Washington Post and Time.[2] But distribution was non-existent at the time for award-winning documentaries so the film's volunteer team led by the poet Steven Kauffman distributed the film in theatres and with Alexandra touring across America's college campuses.
Indochina Film Arts Foundation
The aftermath of the war and trade embargoes left Vietnam as the fifth poorest country in the world.[19] Despite travel restrictions and her father's admonitions not to go, Alexandra returned to Vietnam with film crews to shoot From Hollywood to Hanoi and a series of follow-up films.
In 1993, Alexandra co-founded the Indochina Film Arts Foundation to promote cultural exchange through film and the arts. The foundation organized workshops and projects in Vietnam and the United States, fostering collaboration between Vietnamese and international filmmakers. Projects were presented at the Viet Nam Cinema Dept. & Filmmakers Association in Hanoi, the Asian American Film Festivals in New York City and Los Angeles, the Cinéma Festival du Réel at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, and the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington DC. Alexandra has been a featured radio guest on NPR's Fresh Air Program with Terry Gross,[5] as well as the Pacifica Network stations WBAI FM in New York, KFAI FM in Minneapolis and KPFK FM in Los Angeles.[20]
Since 1998, the Indochina Film Arts Foundation has conducted ongoing production workshops to advance the skills of aspiring Vietnamese filmmakers.
Ongoing documentary, education, and feature film
In 2000, Alexandra explored the Plain of Jars region of Laos to document the effects of carpet-bombing and unexploded ordnance on local populations. Her Bomb Art Project collected scraps of ordnance for artists to fashion into sculpture. The Bomb Art Project and Bombs Away mini-documentary were publicly presented at the Bergamot Station Art Center in Los Angeles.[21]
Alexandra also documented the 30th Anniversary Reunion of Associated Press War Photographers in Ho Chi Minh City in 2005. Her documentary, Requiem, featured Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists and photojournalists Peter Arnett, and Nick Ut, as well as the local Vietnamese youth culture that had moved on from the war.
In 2007, Alexandra went on a world tour with Oscar and Tony-winning author Christopher Hampton to help manage and promote his work on the feature film Atonement. Hampton was subsequently nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) on the film.[22]
In 2009, Alexandra filmed an odyssey to find the spirit of Michael Jackson in Beverly Hills and Viet Nam, with Le Ly Hayslip – the author and subject of Oliver Stone's feature film Heaven and Earth. Le Ly and Tiana visited the site of Jackson's death and documented the throngs of impersonators carrying on his legacy in both the U.S. and Vietnam.[25]
As co-owner of Christopher Hampton's stage play The Talking Cure, Alexandra was instrumental in developing the project into a feature film directed by David Cronenberg. The film, retitled A Dangerous Method,[26] starred Michael Fassbender as Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung, and Keira Knightley as his patient and mistress. Alexandra is credited as Associate Producer on the 2011 release,[27] and documented the behind the scenes development of the project.[26]
In 2020, Alexandra went on location in Malaysia to join partner Christopher Hampton and crew, filming an international TV mini-series The Singapore Grip.[30] Alexandra documented "the making of" the six-episode drama – which portrayed the intrigues and ultimate upheaval of British colonialism during the Fall of Singapore in WWII.[31]
Filmography
As actress
1975: The Killer Elite (alternative title: The agents elite) – Tommie
1978: Pearl (alternative title: Pearl Harbor) (TV Mini-Series) – Holly Nagata
1981: Fly Away Home (TV Movie) – Mai
1987: Catch the Heat (video title in the Federal Republic of Germany: Fire Game) – Checkers Goldberg
1987: The Three Kings (TV Movie) – Jan DuLong (final film role)
1993: Nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" in the Category: Documentary (Documentary) the Sundance Film Festival for the film From Hollywood to Hanoi.[32]
^Canby, Vincent (October 4, 1993). ""From Hollywood to Hanoi; The Daughter of Vietnam Returns to Te Its Tale."". The New York Times. pp. Section C, p 13.
^Kevin, Thomas (October 1, 1993). ""A Moving, Engrossing Personal Look at Vietnam."". Los Angeles Times. pp. p.F1.
