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It tells the story of Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che, a Vietnamese couple who fled the country after the war in 1975. A year after arriving in a refugee camp in the Philippines, they were hired as extras for the filming of Apocalypse Now. Many years later, their story is revisited with the help of their daughter, poet Cathy Linh Che, who wrote and produced the film. The combination of interviews and archival-style material reflects on memory and representation as the couple moved from Vietnam to the Philippines and then to the United States.

The film interviews former extras, who speak directly throughout. Hearing their names and voices gives them presence, rather than leaving them as anonymous background figures.

During the Vietnam War, filmmakers asked the Red Cross to help find extras from a refugee camp. Many of the people chosen were not told clearly where they were going or what they would be doing. Once on set, they took part in intense and demanding filming conditions.

Some of them were asked to act as Viet Cong soldiers in the film, even though they had fled violence and conflict involving the Viet Cong during the war.

Entire families were involved, including mothers with children. Even babies were reportedly paid the same as adults, creating a strange contrast between real life and film.

The Vietnam War, fought between North and South Vietnam from the 1950s until 1975 with major involvement from the United States, caused immense suffering and displacement across Vietnam. Much of the conflict involved the Viet Cong, the communist guerrilla force allied with North Vietnam, and many civilians were caught between opposing sides. An estimated two to three million Vietnamese people died during the war, along with more than 58,000 American soldiers. After the war, thousands of families fled the country as refugees. This history gives We Were the Scenery a deeper emotional meaning, since many of the Vietnamese extras in Apocalypse Now were recreating a war they had personally lived through.

One of the strongest ideas in the documentary is the phrase “We were the scenery.” It shows how these people were present in the film, but also in the history it is based on. They lived through the war in real life and later became part of the story being told about it.

The film also shows small memories from filming that stayed with them. For example, they remember director Francis Coppola eating mango with the skin on, which they found unusual. They also mention scenes that felt strange to them, like surfing during a war film, which did not match their experience of war.

Looking back, they say the war is not as present in their memories anymore. They do not think about it as much or dream about it like before. But Apocalypse Now still remains as a reminder of that time in their lives.

At the same time, they say many films now feel fake compared to that experience. There is also some humor when they talk about it today, but it is mixed with more serious emotions underneath.

We Were the Scenery raises a simple but difficult question: what does it mean when people’s own experiences are turned into stories and then appear only as background in the storytelling?