Gone, Gone, Forever Gone looks at the changes in Vietnam since 1945. It is a gentle film that uses the viewpoint of a Buddhist nun to tell the story. The story begins in Hue in 1985, but jumps back to 1945 and then works its way forward. The emperor is no more so his concubines are set free. One imperial concubine becomes a Buddhist nun and eventually the Head Nun. She witnesses the partition of her country into North and South. Her two brothers will lead much less peaceful lives. One will fight for the North and the other for the South. The nun's goal in the story is to reunite her family. When the two brothers meet again after 30 years, it is the sister who must act as the mediator and remind them of the impermanence of worldly conflict.

Gone, Gone, Forever Gone captures the spirit of civil war in a unique way. It does not question the concept of who wins, but tries to show how an individual's ability and inner strength can help him or her rise above conflict. This film was the Vietnamese entry for the 1996 Academy Awards