Vietnam is being touted as Asia’s next tiger economy, with an impressive 7% economic growth in 2024. Since the Communist government decided to swap marxism for capitalism in the 1980s, the country has transformed. It is now home to an increasing number of millionaires and signs of growth are everywhere. But this prosperity comes at a price, and those who dare to criticise the official party policy risk losing everything.
The only political organization allowed by Vietnam’s constitution is the Communist party. It has over 5 million members, but real power lies with the Central Committee, headed by General Secretary To Lam. One of the richest women in the country is Le Hoang Diep Thao, the so-called ‘Queen of Coffee’. She proudly shows us around her plantations, but she doesn’t own any of these fertile plots. In Vietnam there is no private ownership of land, so she rents them from the government. If she criticises its policies, she could lose everything.
In 2017, the police came for pastor Nguyen Trung Ton. “Armed men stopped his car and took him. They stripped him, and beat him up”, describes his wife. After a sham trial, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for propaganda against the state. His real crime was trying to defending individual freedoms and human rights. In prison, his health has drastically deteriorated. We met his wife in secret.
While most political opponents have sought asylum abroad, some children of Vietnamese migrants are returning. Anthony TK Nguyen, an American of Vietnamese descent, has returned to the country with his brother to seek his fortune. In Nha Trang, a popular seaside resort, he runs one of the trendiest night clubs and intends to take advantage of the economic boom.
This documentary unravels the meteoric rise of Vietnam, a country now delicately balancing capitalist ambition with communist control.