Jolie Eden as Thuy Nguyen in “Little Bird” at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Vietnamese filmmaker and AFI Conservatory MFA Graduate Oanh-Nhi Nguyen is the only filmmaker to have two films accepted into the HollyShorts Film Festival, taking place August 7-17th in Hollywood, California, “Little Bird” and “The Stand.” Oanh-Nhi Nguyen collaborated on writing the screenplay with Ysabeaux Ng. Timothy Shin was the cinematographer.
Nguyen’s goal is to examine Southeast Asian refugees and other immigrant groups with her two films, “The Stand” and “Little Bird.” The shorts run only roughly 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes are aimed at dehumanizing ethnic groups that the Writer/Director says have been “invisibilized.” She notes: “In the current times we live in, immigrants are seen as criminals.”
“Little Bird” was my favorite of the two of these excellent shorts, primarily because of the luminous performance of the Vietnamese child Thuy Nguyen, played so genuinely and touchingly by Jolie Eden. What a find! She is a charming and beautiful child actress.
Jolie Edens as Thuy Nguyen in “The Stand” at the HollyShorts Film Festival (Aug. 7-17).
In the story, she and many others have been living in slumlord Mr. Chou’s (Perry Yung’s) squalid apartment with numerous other immigrant families for 8 and ½ months. She is also separated temporarily from her parents. The large group in the horrible apartment is 4 weeks behind on the rent. Mr. Chou also wants to raise the rent by $120 and ignores their pleas to fix the many broken things.
The eviction lady who works for Mr. Chou, Linh Tran (Chantal Thuy), has been sent to distribute eviction notices in 1980 Los Angeles, right after the Vietnam War ended. Little Thuy is living there with relatives (but not her parents) and, touchingly, invites the eviction lady to join them for soup.
Linh Tran is invited into the crowded apartment because of confusion over who she is. The residents think she is the Chinese American housing organizer (Debbie Wei) . Real-life efforts to help the immigrants organize a rent strike in Philadelphia inspired the message of compassion and empathy that this much-honored Vietnamese filmmaker memorializes with this short.
Linh (Chantal Thuy) attempts to intercede with the disinterested landlord Mr. Chou, who urges her to go back out and evict more, saying, ‘Do your job or I’ll find someone else who will.” Ultimately, Linh’s humanity and sense of righteousness and fairness lead to her aiding the group. One male member of the many in the apartment says, ‘We have a roof over our heads. Isn’t that enough?” five minutes into the film. No, it is not, and little Thuy expresses her hope that she can remain in this home away from her homeland.
Because Linh Tran works for Mr. Chou, she knows that he is behind on filing the necessary paperwork and is in breach of agreements, as the reports are a year old. Linh shares this information and a rent strike is organized. The ultimate conclusion is optimistic for the immigrants. If only the outlook were this positive for all immigrant communities in the United States.
AUTHENTIC TOUCHES
There are many authentic touches in this film, which was part of Writer/Director Oanh-Nhi Nguyen’s work in 2024 for the American Film Institute for her MFA. She knows this cultural territory and utilizes references to delicacies like che ha mau, which is a three-color dessert. The music and song (Co Nho Dem Nao) by Khanh Bang, performed by Phuong Tam is also utilized to good effect and the actors “dance like crazy monkeys” (a scripted line.)
But the very best thing in this film, captured well by Cinematographer Timothy Shin is the little girl Thuy (Jolie Eden) and her interaction with Linh Tran (Chantal Thuy), both of whom do a great job in their roles.
Bravo!
“THE STAND”
“The Stand” at the HollyShorts Film Festival, Aug. 7-17th.
The second short by Oanh-Nhi Nguyen at HollyShorts is “The Stand.” Nguyen wrote this one with Corey Pinchoff and Ace Wang edited the cinematography by Ed Wiu.
The stars of “The Stand” are Jovie Leigh and Kailen Jude. Again, there are so many awards that the short has already won (over 10) that this review would be filled simply by listing them all.
Suffice it to say that Jovie Leigh, a Filipino actress who won as the Best Young Actress Award for 2023 from Hollywood Film Festival, is great as the lead, the daughter of a divorced Mom who depends on running a stand that sells skewers of pork and chicken for money.
Young Quinn has just been selected for a solo at the school concert, and she wants her mother to be able to attend, but the concert falls on one of the busiest times for the stand, so Mom is unsure that she is going to be able to go. Add to that the change in a court appearance (dispute over child support payments) that causes Mom to leave the stand in the command of her high school aged daughter (Jovie Leigh as Quinn), who is also to supervise her little brother Liam (Kailen Jude). Things do not go as smoothly as Mom hoped, but the denouement of this short is positive.
I was impressed to learn that the young Kailen has appeared in the M. Night Shymalan film “Old” and also has had appearances alongside celebrities like John Stamos and Sharon Stone. He is only about ten years old but has been working since age three. The entire effect of the 16:44 minute short was to mark Oanh-Nhi Nguyen as a promising young director with a great future ahead of her in the world of film.
Both shorts have important messages for us all.
The feeling I had as the two shorts ended was, “Long live Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. And good luck to this promising young AFI Film School graduate.” I couldn’t help but ask,“What can we do, as a country, to rid ourselves of those who would persecute and prosecute and victimize immigrants, people who are simply seeking a better life for their families and are the life blood of our melting pot of a country?”
Congratulations to this bright young Vietnamese filmmaker for making us all more aware of our need to try to be good people to immigrants of all countries who come to America.
