A feature documentary by award-winning filmmaker Lawrence Johnson.

I’ve told many stories through my films (Stuff, Hand Game), but the truth is, for over forty years, I’ve been haunted by a story of my own: When I was in the Army in Saigon in the 1970s, I fell in love with a Vietnamese pop singer named Candy, and when we split at the end of the war, she may have been pregnant with my child.

                

In 2012, I traveled back to Saigon to search for Candy and to revisit the places and the people I had left behind but never forgot. Forty years later, I learned that the war still haunts that nation: babies are still being born with birth defects caused by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange; unexploded land mines and bombs still kill dozens per year; and thousands of Amerasian children born of relationships like mine and Candy’s are living lives shadowed by abandonment and persecution.

My pursuit of just one woman and one child has ended up taking me through the streets, bars, hospitals, and homes of modern Vietnam, and back home into the American communities of Vietnamese refugees torn from their homeland during the war. And as weeks of searching have turned into months, I am now keenly aware that for Amerasian children who want to reunite with their aging fathers, time is running out.  

Above: still from Ghost Money animation

GHOST MONEY will tell the story of my war years through dazzling brush-drawn animation and rarely-seen super 8 footage that I shot in Saigon in the 1970s. But it will also tell the story of the scars war leaves behind: women still living with the fact that they were systematically “sold” to meet the needs of American GIs, children who grew up as outsiders because of fathers they have never met, families who were torn apart by loss and relocation.

      

Above: still from Super-8mm film, Saigon 1972.

GHOST MONEY will explore aspects of the Vietnam legacy rarely revealed in films, the dark corners of a world scarred by a war which killed 5 million people, a world full of angry ghosts and haunted souls.

My greatest hope is that my story will inspire other American fathers and Amerasian children out there to have the reunions they deserve after years of estrangement and unanswered questions. 

    

Above: still from Ghost Money animation 

                 

The story of my search for Candy is a cliffhanger, and it’s not over yet.  We hope to raise at least $20,000 to take another trip to Vietnam and finish production on the film. Exciting developments continue that bring me closer to finding out the truth and helping others do the same. 

             

DONATE TO THE CAMPAIGN. Every dollar is important.  Even a $1 or $10 donation does wonders to show that there is demand and interest out there for this story to be told. Larger donations get you some of the great perks you see over on the right.  

SHARE THE LINK. The more people we can reach, the better. Sharing this link on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you want will help get the word out. A documentary film is a community. As you share our posts, you can link to people from around the world who are associated with the project. We will be posting several times a week. The more posts you share, the greater our reach.

HOLD A HOUSE PARTY. If you really like this project and are in touch with a group of friends who would be interested, hold a party at your home, show a clip on your TV and let people know what they can do to help. If you're in the Portland area, I would love to come and visit with your group about the project. If you're not in the Portland area, I would be happy to prerecord a message to your group that you could play along with the video above and exclusive never-before-seen footage.  

               

          

Lawrence Johnson, Producer/Director - My first movie "camera" was made out of painted cardboard.  Since then I have made over 60 actual films, mostly non-fiction.  My personal doc Stuff,about my father's death, won several festival awards and a Special Jury Prize from the Florida Film Festival.  On the strength of Stuff, my life-long commitment to the art form and a growing body of experimental work, I received the 2012 Individual Artist Fellowship in Media Arts from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, awarded once every four years to a filmmaker who best represents the range and diversity of art in the Pacific Northwest.

                                                                                                   

   

Gerald Lewis, Director of Photography - Gerald has worked across the globe on many broadcast and documentary projects for BBC, Channel Four UK, Swedish Television. He has also shot and produced for A&E, Starz, Discovery, Food Channel and Home & Garden.  Awards for best cinematography from Europe and Scandinavia. Winner of best Documentary - Cannes TV Awards, France.  Gerald and I have been working together for two decades on major museum projects and independent films.

     

John R. Smith, Composer - John, of the hit band Nu Shooz Orchestra, has worked with me for years on several projects, notably Stuff, The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and The Buffalo Bill Museum. He scored films for Joanna Priestly and Todd Korgan and produced music for "millions" of corporate clients. He has traveled to Vietnam two times to gather sounds and music for the score to Ghost Money. John's approach to the score will be inspired and innovative using Vietnamese traditional masters.

 

        

Shawn Kellner, Executive Producer - Shawn is an Iraq war veteran and the son of a Vietnam vet.  As a musician and the editor of Chicago Music Magazine, Shawn has connections in the entertainment industry around the world.  He traveled to Vietnam with the crew and is enthusiastic about the project.  

    

Hoa Tran and Michael Abadie - Our Saigon team. Hoa is a freelance producer of commercials and high end productions. We were lucky to find her, because she has been incredibly helpful getting permits, finding resources, arranging interviews and even recommending great places to eat. Michael, a New Yorker married to a Vietnamese woman, has lived in Saigon since the 80s. He helps with translating, photography, information and insight into contemporary Vietnam.

         

Zak Margolis, Animator - A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Zak is a talented animator doing his own films and working with others.  His film You Were a Perfect Gentleman is like a night cruise into the subconscious.  He has worked with such notable artists as Andy Blubaugh, Jim Blashfield and Rose Bond.  Zak and I collaborated on the animation for Stuff, and he will do the compositing for Ghost Money.

       

Hampton Rodriguez, Animator -  Hampton is a uniquely gifted artist, who paints and draws in a loose, expressionistic style that complements mine.  His experiments with animation are fascinating in their economy and visual interest. Working with collage from recycled materials, he tries to capture "that fuzzy moment" between the real and the imagined. Hampton will assist me on storyboarding, character development and drawing.

Above: background still from Ghost Money animation

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