Finding Má

After 20 years apart, an Amerasian Vietnamese and Black family shattered by the foster care and prison systems reunite to heal old wounds and rebuild their family, starting with finding their unhoused mother in the streets of Sacramento.

For most of his life, Thanh Tran only had fragments of memories of his mother. Placed in foster care at 18 months old and later incarcerated, Thanh was left to piece together his identity without the presence of Má. But as he rebuilds his life after incarceration, he decides to search for the woman who gave him life.

His journey begins in Sacramento’s Little Saigon, where he and his siblings—separated through the foster system—confront painful truths about their past. Their search takes them across generations and continents, from the streets of California to Vietnam, where they hope to find long-lost family ties. As Thanh reckons with his own struggles of abandonment, incarceration, and cultural disconnection, he is also met with the reality of what it means to return—to a mother who may or may not be ready, to a homeland that is both familiar and foreign, and to a past that still lingers in the present.

Through verite footage, archival materials, and deeply personal storytelling, Finding Má is more than a documentary; it’s a journey of reconciliation, love, and self-discovery. But in the end, will Thanh and his siblings find the closure they seek?

Director: Thanh Tran

Executive Producer: Grace Lee

Producers: Eurie Chung, Anthony Pedone, Thanh Tran

Associate Producers: Thu Vo, Phoenix Woodall

Director of Photography: Tony Tran

Editor: Aldo Velasco

Learn more: Findingma.com

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