'Here Out West' is a Tender and Poignant Lens on Western Sydney
Speaking to 'Here Out West' writer Tien Tran
Opening last year’s Sydney Film Festival, ‘Here Out West’ is an Australian film set in and made by up and coming creatives from Western Sydney.
The anthology film follows 8 loosely interconnected stories after a desperate woman steals her granddaughter from a Sydney hospital. It’s a portrait and snapshot of every day life in multicultural suburbia that highlights the immigrant experience. Issues like the struggles with intergenerational distance between parents and their children and family and community connections are threads throughout the stories.
A lot of the lived experiences are dealt with humour, poignancy and tenderness and it’s a film that really represents Australia’s rich tapestry of cultures that’s not really seen as often as it should be in Australian cinema.
I loved the film because it’s genuine and moving and it’s nice to see facets of my own personal experiences and struggles reflected on screen.
I spoke to one of the film’s creatives, Tien Tran, a Vietnamese-Australian writer based in Sydney about the film. Tran wrote the story about Tuan, a successful white collar professional who goes by Tom.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity)
The film explores a lot of duality, about living in Australia, but not necessarily fitting 100% in Australian society or the one your parents are from, did you find yourself drawing from personal experiences?
This was definitely personal for me. I’m originally from Perth and wrote this story thinking of my own experiences there. That feeling of disconnect between cultures and the constant push and pull of trying to assimilate and be a model minority wasn’t something I was super aware of until I started speaking with more and more Western Sydney artists.
Western Sydney does seem to have a clearer grasp on its identity. The conversation about Western Sydney is set quite locally but I feel like it really speaks to immigrant communities around the whole country.
What was important to you during the writing process and what were you most conscious of conveying?
I didn’t want there to be any confusion as to whether my character, Tuan, an aspiring model minority trying to get his younger brother to become more assimilated, was “in the right” in anyway. In the first few drafts, I remember getting comments that this story was about an older brother mentoring a younger brother to become a better person and that couldn’t be further from what I was trying to write.
I didn’t want to leave that up for the audience’s interpretation. This wasn’t going to be some grateful immigrant story. But rather a reflection that just because you’ve grown older and adjusted better to the environment, doesn’t mean that the environment itself isn’t the one that’s toxic.
What's your favourite story out of all of those told in the movie and why?
‘Brotherhood’ is my favourite story purely for the characters. I don’t think I’ve laughed harder than at the banter between those boys. Young men of colour are rarely shown on screen with the nuance they deserve, they’re either villains or punchlines. In this chapter, the boys talk to each other with barbs but act with tenderness.
There’s a scene in particular where one of the characters offers his jacket to another character while dismissing his injury. And it captures perfectly how young men of colour interact, how we tease and diminish in order to disguise our acts of care, because no one is supposed to know that we actually care for each other.
I found ‘Here Out West’ to be really unique in that it shows a true multicultural Australia - arguably a side that's rarely seen in mainstream media - why do you think we haven't really seen more of this before?
I haven’t been in film long enough to truly know. From what I’ve seen so far, films have traditionally been governed more by economics than art and as a result producers are very averse to any type of risk. There seems to be a lot of pressure on movies that are trying to tell a different story to have to be financially successful to allow other films like it to be made. I think that’s dumb. Because “mainstream” movies can bomb constantly and they keep making them over and over again.
How did you end up in the film industry? Did you find your families were supportive? (I'm just thinking of my own experience where my parents would rather I have gone into medicine or law instead of writing! I think if I'd had this film growing up I would've felt less lonely!)
This one hit all too close to home. I think I’ve given up seeking praise and acceptance from my parents. At this point, it would feel weird if they suddenly started complimenting me on this stuff. It would’ve been nice if I got praise and hugs growing up but I think I have to remind myself that they’ve been through things that I’ll only ever read about.
Leaving Vietnam on a tiny fishing boat, ending up in a refugee camp then finally making it here. I think they can get a few concessions when it comes to parenting. We all love and care for each other in our own way. But it’s not Brady Bunch material. Not that I would want that either.
I ended up here through another program called Breakthrough, also by Co-curious. After getting to know the producers from that program, they invited me to apply for their Behind Closed Doors program which would ultimately make this film.
‘Here Out West’ is showing in select cinemas for a limited time.