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I’m a little late in letting folks know about this, but a great documentary photographer and friend of mine Scott Anger, along with Deborah Dickson, is screening a film called

WITNESS TO A SECRET WAR tomorrow night at 5:15 as part of the Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival. It’s at the Oak Street Cinema at 309 Oak Street SE in MInneapolis, Saturday May 3rd.

The film, which will eventually air on PBS, documents the journey of a Hmong family

who fled Laos while also telling the complex story of Hmong’s role in the Vietnam war.

There’s a trailer online which is worth watching. The write-up from their website is below. Scott, who’s worked for Frontline among others, recently took a job with the LA Times as their director of online video.

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While America’s most visible fight against communism in the late 1960’s was in Vietnam, another clandestine war was being conducted in neighboring Laos. At the time, Washington feared that if Laos fell to the Communists, the rest of Southeast Asia would follow, like a row of tumbling dominoes. So the Central Intelligence Agency was dispatched to make a stand by recruiting a little-known group of tribesman to fight a proxy war.

WITNESSES TO A SECRET WAR tells the history of The Secret War through first hand accounts of Hmong soldiers and their families who fought, survived, and were forced to flee when the Communists took over Laos in 1975. Tens of thousands escaped the country by crossing the Mekong River to neighboring Thailand and ended up in sprawling refugee camps. Some left the camps to start a new life in America early on while others languished for decades.

Cy Thao and KaYing Yang were young children when they fled Laos with their families and were among the first to immigrate to the US. Both have become successful Americans, but like exiles everywhere, they feel compelled to understand the past. Cy is a Minnesota State Representative and a painter who uses his art to tell the little known story of his people. KaYing is a refugee advocate working in Thailand to help a final group of Hmong refugees immigrate to the United States, including the Xiong family, who has been living in Thailand for the past 30 years.

As the journeys of Cy, KaYing, and the Xiong family unfold, other witnesses act as a Greek chorus, telling the story of this relatively unknown piece of American history—a story of betrayal, loss, and survival.

During his 30-year career as a photojournalist, Rickman has worked for National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Audubon, Life, ESPN The Magazine, The Des Moines Register and other major daily newspapers. His work has received numerous awards, including the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for News Photography for team coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics for The Orange County (Calif.) Register.

More info: click here

Bengs has been working at the The Minnesota Daily for the past two years and has also completed an internship at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Bengs will be graduating in May with a BA in Art and Journalism.

After graduation, Bengs wants to continue in photojournalism and capture images from across the world.

<< check back soon to view her and other winning images from the CPOY competition >>

Randy Johnson, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Jerry Holt, Star Tribune; and Thomas Whisenand, freelance.

<< check back soon for a photo gallery of the winners >>

COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

• 1st Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 2nd Stephen Maturen, Minnesota - Twin Cities

FEATURE

• 1st Place - “Snow Day” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
  State-Moorhead
• 2nd Place - “Window Band” Ali Haupt, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 3rd Place - “Snowboarder” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
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• Hm - Splash! - Stephen Maturen, Minnesota - Twin Cities

GENERAL NEWS

• 1st Place - “Thankful Performance” Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 2nd Place - “Tuba” Chris Huber, Minnesota
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• 3rd Place - “Goodbye Kiss” Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities

SPOT NEWS

• 1st Place - “I-35W Bridge Collaspe” Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 2nd Place - “I-35W Bridge Collaspe 2″ Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 3rd Place - “Crash” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
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SPORTS ACTION

• 1st Place - “Big Miss” Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 2nd Place - “Bike” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
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• 3rd Place - “Flipped” Stephen Maturen, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• Hm - “Runner” Chris Huber, Minnesota
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SPORTS FEATURE

• 1st Place - “Weekend Grind” Penny Kelley, Minnesota
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• 2nd Place -”Football Player” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
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PICTURE STORY

• 1st Place “I35W Bridge Collapse” Stacy Bengs, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 2nd Place - “2007 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon” Stephen Maturen, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• 3rd Place - “Students Lend a Helping Hand” Ali Haupt, Minnesota - Twin Cities
• Hm- “Northwood Tornado” Sarah Voegele, Minnesota
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