Boat People

As a little girl in Vietnam, Thao’s mother would rescue ants from bowls of sugar water. The tiny creatures would later return the favour, leading her desperate family through darkness—and pointing the way to safety. Adapted from illustrator and author Thao Lam’s book The Paper Boat, the film draws upon her own family’s dramatic and turbulent journey as refugees fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Boat People harnesses the talents of animator Kjell Boersma in retaining the hand-crafted look of the original illustrations in service to a compelling narrative that both parallels and contrasts human survival with the instinctual behaviour of ants.