Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase

Vietnamese Boat People presents: Being Bao Nguyen

Enter the livestream and chat at any time
Stream began May 15, 2020 9:00 PM UTC
Already unlocked? for access

Give as a gift

$0After unlocking, the May 15th at 9:00 pm UTC livestream can be viewed at any time. Need help?

Livestreams are available to watch on the Visual Communications Youtube Channel and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Facebook page!


Tune in for a special presentation of a Vietnamese Boat People videocast with award-winning independent film and commercial director Bao Nguyen. His nuanced and intimate work is a cinematic exploration of themes including NYC’s Chinatown in the wake of 9/11 (A TREE FALLS IN THE FOREST), the social divide over race in 21st century United States (WE GON’ BE ALRIGHT), and the cultural phenomenon of an American TV legacy (LIVE FROM NEW YORK). Bao’s recent documentary BE WATER, which chronicles the life of the legendary Bruce Lee, made its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. With Bao’s most recent successes, the doors have opened for some exciting new things to come. How did he get to this point in his career and what’s next? In this virtual chat, you’ll learn about Bao’s family history and experiences that informed his cinematic works.


Some of Bao's films are available for viewing through the LAAPFF Virtual Showcase prior to the event.


Click here to watch WE GON' BE ALRIGHT

Click here to watch A TREE FALLS IN THE FOREST


Community Partners: Vietnamese Boat People


The Vietnamese Boat People podcast project is to preserve and carry forward the stories of this generation so that younger Vietnamese-Americans can understand and be inspired by their heritage. And if these stories evoke others outside of this community to have more empathy towards the millions of refugees around the world today, then this project has accomplished more than we had hoped for.


Featuring:


Tracey Nguyen Mang (Host)

Tracey Nguyen Mang is the founder and host of the Vietnamese Boat People podcast. The youngest of seven children, she was born in Nha Trang Vietnam in 1977. When she was only one, her father and oldest brother fled Vietnam by boat. After that, her three older brothers made the same risky escape. And in 1981, her mother braved the journey with three girls under the age of 10. Their family was lucky to have survived. Three separate escapes, three different refugee camps and three years later, reunited in America as one family. She runs the Vietnamese Boat People podcast to preserve her family's story and the stories of hundreds of thousands of other Vietnamese Boat People.



Bao Nguyen

Bao Nguyen is an award-winning Vietnamese American filmmaker whose past work has been seen in The New York Times, HBO, NBC, Vice, ARTE, and PBS. He has directed, produced, and shot a number of short films, which have played internationally in numerous festivals and museums including MoMA and the Smithsonian. His graduate thesis film, JULIAN, won a CINE Golden Eagle Award, the Best Student Documentary Short at the Palm Springs ShortsFest, Special Jury Prize at DOCNYC, and was nominated for an IDA Award. His feature documentary directorial debut, LIVE FROM NEW YORK, opened the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast nationally in prime time on NBC, preceding the 41st season premiere of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. He is a 2011 PBS/WGBH Producers Workshop Fellow, an alumnus of the 2012 and 2014 Berlinale Talent Campus, and a Firelight Media Fellow. He earned his BA at NYU and his MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.