Portland filmmaker Vu Pham will preview clips from his forthcoming film "Sea Rose Ashes" at Beaverton City Library on Friday, Sept. 18.

A moderated conversation about his family's refugee journey and pursuit of restorative justice follows the screening.

The event is part of Beaverton's Welcoming Week programming.

The annual national campaign runs Sept. 10–19 under the theme "The Courage to Connect: Stories We Share."

Pham and his mother fled Vietnam by boat in 1981, arriving in the United States as refugees. Two years later, his mother was murdered. The perpetrator was a fellow Vietnamese refugee who had been a father figure to Pham, according to OPB. Pham was about seven years old.

The film follows Pham's effort to repatriate his mother's ashes to her hometown in Vietnam and his search for reconciliation with the man who killed her. The title carries personal meaning: Pham's mother's name, Hong, means "Rose" in Vietnamese.

The sea refers to their boat crossing. The ashes refer to her cremated remains.

"I needed to take back the agency that had been stolen from me, there was only one way to do that, and that was to speak to the man that took her life," Pham told OPB's Think Out Loud on June 8.

Pham, a narrative filmmaker since 2010, began confronting his mother's story during the COVID-19 pandemic. He flew to Juneau, Alaska, on March 17, 2020, and spent months in isolation there. That solitude became the catalyst for the project. He later located his mother's killer with the help of a private investigator and wrote him a series of letters. As of June, the man had not responded.

After the perpetrator also declined to participate in a formal restorative justice program, the program offered a "surrogacy" process, according to OPB's Oregon Art Beat. That process brings in a surrogate with similar harm experience to engage in dialogue.

In fall 2024, Pham returned to Vietnam for the first time since 1981 to bring his mother's ashes home. The trip was funded in part through Crime Victims' Compensation from the Oregon Department of Justice, facilitated by a contact at the Center for Trauma Support Services.

The Beaverton City Library event runs 7–8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at 12375 SW Fifth St. It includes a moderated conversation and audience Q&A. The library notes the program contains mature themes and may not be suitable for younger audiences.

Upcoming Beaverton community events:

• Friday, Sept. 18: "Sea Rose Ashes" preview with Vu Pham, 7–8:30 p.m., Beaverton City Library Auditorium, 12375 SW Fifth St.
• Saturday, Sept. 19: Mid-Autumn Festival, Brookwood Library, Hillsboro (free)