Courtesy of Dark Star Pictures
Documentary is happy to debut the trailer for Peter McDowell’s first feature, Jimmy in Saigon (2024). The film premiered last year at BFI Flare before a robust festival run, especially at LGBTQ film festivals. It will open at the Cinema Village NY on April 25 and at Laemmle theaters in LA starting May 8, before a VOD release on May 13 through distributor Dark Star Pictures. Pic is produced by McDowell, Lucia Palmarini, and Peter Schulman. Executive producers include Dan Savage.
Jimmy in Saigon begins as a personal exploration into the mysterious death and radical life of Jimmy McDowell, an American 24-year-old Vietnam veteran who died as a civilian in Saigon in the 1970s, who was the director’s brother. In Peter McDowell’s quest to get to know his brother and why he spent the last year of his life in Vietnam after being discharged from the American military, he uncovers a hidden romance, new family ties and secrets surrounding Jimmy’s drug use and sexuality in a story spanning continents.