Two and a half years after the fall of Saigon, a little girl in a red shirt escaped Communist Vietnam with her mother on a small domestic fishing boat, leaving everything they have ever known and risking their lives in search of freedom.
This is one of thousands of stories of the Vietnamese Boat People, who began fleeing Vietnam in 1975.
In 1978, after six days at sea, a devastating shipwreck took the lives of half the people on the boat, swept away by the powerful currents. Linh knew that no one was coming to save her.
She surrendered and accepted that her life was over.
Fortunately, she was wrong. Just then, the earth angel in the form of a Malaysian village fisherman rescued her.
She and her mother were taken to the refugee camp called Pulau Bidong in Malaysia. After ten months on the island, eating just fish, they arrived in the United States in 1979.
Linh became naturalized into Chantalynn, a woman who transformed survival into purpose and dedicated her life to helping others discover what makes their hearts sing through the power of community.
An extraordinary true story
WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING?
Genre
Biographical Drama
Location
Vietnam · Malaysia · America: Oklahoma, California
Status
In Development | Seeking Financing & Production Partners
Development Stage
Chantalynn has begun documenting her extraordinary life story. The project is currently developing the feature film treatment and screenplay while seeking creative partners, producers, and development financing.
What Makes Your Heart Sing? follows Linh, a ten-year-old Vietnamese girl who fled post-war Vietnam with her mother as one of the Vietnamese Boat People on an overcrowded domestic fishing boat. She could not swim. There was no life jacket. Before they left, her mother dressed her in a bright red shirt (something out of a Sears-catalogue from America) she would easily be able to find her daughter in the crowd – and, if the unthinkable happens, in the water.
Life on the island was about waiting.
They waited for food and housing. They waited to be interviewed by different countries. They were seeking political asylum. They waited to find out how long they would have to stay. They ate fish the whole time, waiting.
When they were finally accepted by America, they were excited. And then they realized, they did not speak English, and they knew very little about America. Their first inclination had been to go to France, since Vietnam had been a French colony and Linh attended a French Catholic school in order to receive the best education possible. French was her second language.
But survival is only the beginning. The film follows her journey from Linh to Chantal to Chantalynn – from refugee child to nail artist, published author, transformational leader and community builder in Los Angeles.
THE VOYAGE
The ocean took everything out of their hands.
Before they escaped, Linh’s mother dressed her in the brightest red shirt she could find so she would never lose sight of her daughter.
Before they could enter international waters, engine trouble forced them onto Thổ Châu island, where the Linh had to sell the only memento of her father, a ring, for sixty Vietnamese dollars to buy what would be their last proper meal before landing in the new futur. In the middle of the night, they set out again.
In international waters, they raised a white SOS flag. They survived a violent storm, refused help from a Russian ship out of fear of being sent back to Vietnam, and later fled from Thai pirates. An oil rig caused the pirates to turn away but then refused to help the refugees.
They nearly made it to shore, only to be turned away by the coast guards. Nearing dusk, they made one final attempt to reach land. Their boat struck a coral reef and broke apart.
Unable to swim, Linh disappeared beneath the water.
A Malaysian fisherman found her, pulled her from the sea, and brought her back to life.
With her first breath, hope returned.
A SIDE STORY WITH A SOUL
From Survival to Celebration
For ten months in the refugee camp, mother and daughter ate fish every single day. Linh never saw it as deprivation. Years earlier, when she had refused to eat fish at home, her mother gently insisted she learn to accept it – preparing her for a future neither of them could have imagined. What once felt like a simple lesson became a gift of resilience.
That experience didn’t make her afraid of food – it sparked a lifelong curiosity. Today, Chantalynn is a passionate foodie who sees every meal as a celebration of culture, connection, and life itself. What began as survival has become abundance, and every shared table is a reminder of how far her journey has taken her.
Survival → Adaptation → Gratitude → Joy & Connection
”Respond to every call that excites your spirit!
Rumi, Chantalynn's favorite poetthe little girl in the red shirt
THE INNER JOURNEY
She always knew she had a calling
As a child, Linh always believed her life had a purpose. Raised in the Buddhist tradition, she was not afraid when the ocean pulled her under. Unable to swim, she surrendered to what she believed was the end of her life. When she awoke in the arms of a Malaysian fisherman, she was given a second chance.
But rebuilding a life in America brought a different kind of struggle. After high school, she followed her mother into the nail industry, where routine replaced possibility. The girl who had survived the sea began to lose sight of the purpose she once knew was hers.
Years later, a turning point awakened that inner knowing once again. It led her to a life of leadership, service, and helping others discover what makes their own hearts sing.
The First Knowing
A child who believed her life had a purpose.
↓
The First Drowning
The ocean takes her body, but not her spirit.
↓
The Second Drowning
In America, she lost sight of herself.
↓
The Reawakening
She rediscovered the calling she had carried within her all along.
WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING?
THE NAME
SHE CHOSE
Her name carries every chapter of her becoming.
Her Vietnamese name was Linh. At a Catholic school in Vietnam, she was given the French name Chantal. Years later, she created Chantalynn – a name that honors both the little girl she once was and the woman she chose to become.
Linh
Her Vietnamese name – the little girl who believed she had a calling, fled Vietnam as one of the Vietnamese Boat People, surrendered to the sea, and survived.
↓
Chantal
The French name she was given at Catholic school in Vietnam, reflecting her mother’s dream of giving her daughter the best education and every opportunity for the future.
↓
Chantalynn
The name she created for herself, bringing together her Vietnamese roots and the life she built beyond them. A name that has been representing identity, resilience, and the freedom to define the becoming.
“I made my name myself.”
GET IN TOUCH
The project is currently in development and welcomes conversations with producers, screenwriters, directors, financiers, co-production partners, distributors, cultural advisors and social-impact organizations.
