BE GOOD, SMILE
PRETTY is a first-person documentary that tells the story of one daughter's
struggle to know and grieve for the father she never knew, the father
who died in Vietnam when she was three months old. By chronicling her
journey of discovery, this film explores profound loss and the need
to know, remember and mourn.
This intimate, revealing story also sheds light on the loss of the
estimated 20,000 Americans whose fathers were killed in the Vietnam War and
whose loss has been stigmatized and ignored. While there is nothing
that will bring their fathers back and there is no quick fix for the
grief they feel, they need permission to mourn their loss, to know their
fathers and to tell their stories. With answers and understanding, they
can heal.
"BE GOOD, SMILE PRETTY is long overdue. Although the healing continues
for those of us who served in Vietnam, the process has yet to begin
for those children orphaned by the casualties of that war."
"This film is an important memorial to all the American fathers who
were killed in the Vietnam War and also will shine much-needed light
on the heavy burdens borne by their surviving children."
"BE GOOD, SMILE PRETTY will be an important legacy to remember the
casualties of the Vietnam War and those they left behind. The need
to remember is profound for a country which too soon forgets those
who serve her. From the difficult and extraordinary circumstances
of Vietnam, some stories of courage have been neglected. The courage
of which I speak is the courage of those...who grew up without a parent
because of the devotion to duty and country of their father..."
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