The General: Vietnam in the Age of To Lam

General To Lam is Vietnam’s most powerful man, bar none. A new film, The General: Vietnam in the Age of To Lam, produced by journalist Laura Brickman, chronicles his rise and the impact his rule has on the people of Vietnam. This showing will be the Thailand premiere for the film.

Rising through the state security services to ultimately become today’s general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, To Lam severely cracked down on free speech and any form of dissent while simultaneously being lauded by trade partners on the international stage as a “blazing furnace against corruption”.

While this reputation helps To Lam secure lucrative trade and development deals, Vietnam’s so-called “economic miracle” has had devastating environmental ramifications,  including the 2016 Formosa Steel disaster, and has displaced many thousands from their homes, particularly poor people and ethnic minorities. At the same time, the willingness of foreign governments to trade and invest with the regime without regard for the country’s significantly worsening human rights climate has whitewashed those abuses, and helped To Lam solidify his hold on power.

The attacks on dissidents extend far beyond Vietnam’s borders, and the film begins with the widely publicized 2017 abduction of Trinh Xuan Thanh in central Berlin as he tried to escape the reach of the general. A prominent Vietnamese businessman and political figure, Thanh led Vietnam’s oil and gas utility, embodying a challenge to To Lam’s iron rule.

Through interviews with prominent Vietnamese dissidents and exiles — including democracy activist Nguyen Van Dai (founder of the Brotherhood for Democracy) and Trung Khoa Le (publisher of Thoibao.de) in Germany; human rights defenders Nguyen Van An and Siu Wiu in Thailand; the artist and pop singer Mai Khoi in the US; and the activist Pham Doan Trang in Saigon before her 2021 arrest — The General offers a cogent analysis of the tactics Vietnam’s police state uses to repress its critics around the world.

Movie director Laura Brickman will answer questions from the audience after the film.

‍

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.