The Left Eye of God:

Caodaism Travels from Vietnam to California

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58 min / color video
USA 2008
Director : Susan Hoskins
Caodaists worship the left eye as an Asian synthesis of eastern
and western traditions, and tell their stories of exile, anti-colonial
struggle and building immigrant congregations in California.
Rituals, temples and archival images combine to provide a personal
perspective on a largely unknown mystical tradition. Older religious
leaders tell how this new faith emerged in colonial Saigon in the
1920s and was soon followed by one of four people in southern
Vietnam. Incorporating European figures like Victor Hugo and
Jeanne d’Arc, Caodaists tried to heal the wounds of colonialism, but
suffered persecution from the French, the Diem government and the
communists. After 1975, new spirit mediums in California developed
an innovative style of worship for a generation of followers facing
the challenges of the American context and newly re-opened contact
with religious centers in Vietnam. How independent can Californian
congegations be from sacred authorities in the homeland?