He had an adoptee's fantasy. Now, he's helping other adoptees, and lent his voice to film

Peter D. Kramer, New York State Team
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Two years ago, we told you the remarkable story of Canh Oxelson, who was born in DaNang, Vietnam, on Nov. 1, 1971, and delivered to the city's Sacred Heart Catholic Orphanage the following day.

When he was ten months old, Oxelson was adopted by a loving American family and was raised in California. Still, like many adoptees, he dreamed of meeting his birth parents.

He turned that dream into an adopted child’s fantasy, coming up with a plan he was sure couldn't fail.

Take your mark The boy with a name he hates stares into the swimming pool at the lane he's been assigned

If he could swim fast enough, he reckoned, he could become an Olympic swimmer and have an "Up Close and Personal" TV profile during the Games. In his fantasy, his biological parents would see him on TV, recognize him immediately, and claim him as their own.

Canh Oxelson, 51, of Hartsdale, New York, the son of a Vietnamese mother and Black American GI, was adopted as an infant by a white couple from California. Oxelson grew up convinced that the only way to find his birth mother was to train to become an Olympic swimmer. Now, all these years later, Oxelson has lent his voice to a documentary that seeks to help fellow adoptees from the Vietnam era.

Working at his fantasy, meeting Tiger Woods

Oxelson labored at his fantasy, posting faster and faster times in the 50m freestyle, the swimming equivalent of a 40-yard dash. The "50-free" is over in seconds, but he knew he'd make those seconds count for everything.

His journey took many unexpected turns and detours:

  • The time he was a sought-after Tiger Woods look-alike;

  • The time he spent time with the world’s most famous golfer;

  • The time he was caught up in a minor tabloid scandal;

  • The time he met Chicago relatives he had never know about;

  • The time he returned to Sacred Heart Catholic Orphanage.

Now, Oxelson, who lives in Harstdale, is lending his voice to a project aimed at helping others seeking their birth parents in Vietnam. He has narrated the first award-winning episode in a planned documentary series called "Intersections," commissioned by the SouthEastAsianCoast2Coast Foundation.

Racking up honors, thinking bigger

“Intersections” explores the lives of the “Children of the Dust,” the term coined by the Vietnamese for the Amerasian children who were orphaned and adopted into families around the world. While it was planned as a series, titled "The DaNang Gang," only one episode has been completed, focusing on the story of filmmaker Tran Van Kirk, who lives in Virginia. Now, a possible alternate plan is to roll the stories, including Oxelson's, into one documentary feature.

That first episode is what drew Oxelson to the project. He had seen a Facebook post by Van Kirk that mentioned the documentary he was working on about Sacred Heart Catholic Orphanage in DaNang. Oxelson sent him a donation to support his work. It led to conversations.

"We realized we were there at the same time," Oxelson said. "And he knew of two other people who had also been there at the same time. He's the one who brought us together in New York City to meet for the first time."

Another Westchester resident, Rachel Galvez of Rye, was also at Sacred Heart near the war's end. So, too, was a man named Dan Brown. The four of them gathered in New York. They started to think bigger.

"It was no longer going to be just a documentary about Sacred Heart Orphanage," Oxelson said. "It was going to be about other adoptees, the people who were the adults who were helpful in getting all these adoptees to good families in different parts of the world. It just kind of mushroomed into this big thing."

In October 2022, the series’ pilot episode was named best inspirational film at the Cannes World Film Festival, where it was also a finalist for best documentary feature and best director of a documentary feature. It was an official selection in the 2023 Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival and received an award of excellence for documentary feature film.

Canh Oxelson as a baby in Sacred Heart Catholic Orphanage in DaNang, Vietnam. In recent years, Oxelson has met others -- the children of Vietnamese mothers and American GI fathers -- who were adopted from Sacred Heart. He has lent his voice to a documentary that seeks to help fellow adoptees from the Vietnam era.
Canh Oxelson as a baby in Sacred Heart Catholic Orphanage in DaNang, Vietnam. In recent years, Oxelson has met others -- the children of Vietnamese mothers and American GI fathers -- who were adopted from Sacred Heart. He has lent his voice to a documentary that seeks to help fellow adoptees from the Vietnam era.

Other intersections

There were other intersections along the way for Oxelson.

In conversations with fellow foundation volunteer Michael Anderer of Long Island, another jaw-dropping intersection presented itself: Anderer produced a photo of himself in a crib at the orphanage. Next to him in the crib was baby Canh Oxelson.

"My very first roommate, if you want to think about it that way," Oxelson said with a laugh.

"That's the remarkable part: All of these stories are now coming back together 50 years later, whether they're Vietnam vets who came to the orphanage to hold the babies and take care of the kids or the nuns who took us in," Oxelson said. "We were just there in January doing some filming and spent quite a bit of time with the nuns who were there 50 years ago."

"Intersections," a documentary series looking at the lives of children adopted from an orphanage in DaNang, Vietnam, has been racking up honors on the film-festival circuit. It is narrated by Canh Oxelson, of Hartsdale, New York, whose journey of discovery is among those featured.
"Intersections," a documentary series looking at the lives of children adopted from an orphanage in DaNang, Vietnam, has been racking up honors on the film-festival circuit. It is narrated by Canh Oxelson, of Hartsdale, New York, whose journey of discovery is among those featured.

See the New York premiere

The big ideas keep coming. Oxelson said Van Kirk is in talks to turn the single episode into a feature film, which could fold in his story and that of Galvez into a mosaic about the orphanage. Interest in Vietnam is likely to increase with the 50th anniversary of the war's end approaching in 2025.

In the meantime, though, that first episode of "Intersections" is ready for its New York premiere, on Aug. 3. Oxelson said there are some $50 tickets available for premiere, with proceeds helping the foundation. For ticket information, email info@sea2c.org. The guy handling the tickets is Anderer, Oxelson's first roommate.

Reach Peter D. Kramer at pkramer@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Cahn Oxelson's adoptee's dream drove him. Now, his voice to lead film