A NEW BREED OF
indie FILMMAKERS
Photo Courtesy of Isaac Yi
Portrait by Allie JosephKHOA HA
DIRECTOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCERKhoa Ha is a Vietnamese American multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, art director and designer with over a decade of experience in design, visual storytelling, and cultural world-building. Born and raised in Vietnam before moving to California in 2011, she has built an identity shaped by the collision of East and West. With a background spanning top Los Angeles agencies and her own award-winning creative studio, her work has shaped campaigns for brands including Coachella, ComplexCon, Bandai, Toyota and Manscaped. Her directorial debut, Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon, is more than a film; it’s a creative leap which became the medium that allowed her to speak from the soul. She believes memory is a form of communication, and that art is the bridge between generations.
Portrait by Allie JosephVictor Velle
DIRECTORVictor Velle is a French-American director born into a family of artists. Working across documentary and narrative film, his films center on human stories, the experiences and connections that hold people together. His feature documentaries include 8 Billion Angels, which premiered on PBS, and Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon, a DOC NYC Top 10 selection and winner of Best Documentary Feature at both the Atlanta and San Luis Obispo film festivals. His short narrative debut, Spring Must Come, won Best Short at the Atlanta Film Festival. These are just a few of the more than 30 festival selections his work has earned. His focus remains the same: intimate, personal stories built to resonate far beyond their subjects.
Portrait by Allie JosephDOUGLAS EMERSON
PRODUCERDouglas Emerson is an award winning producer with over a decade of experience in commercial and documentary production. He has worked with some of the largest brands and networks in the world, including Aston Martin, TED, Amazon, Microsoft, PBS, NFL Network and Netflix. He has independently produced two feature documentary films in four countries with combined budgets exceeding $2M. He deeply believes that the best forms of art are created at the intersection of entertainment and technology, having helped organize the first ever Metaverse Film Festival and more recently stepping into the world of AI production with Asteria Film Co., the world’s leading ethical AI production house.
Portrait by Allie JosephJUSTIN TUÂN sMITH
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERJustin Tuân Smith is a Vietnamese-American multi-disciplinary artist and co-owner of creative art boutique TigerBunny Studio in San Francisco, CA. Since opening in 2020, he has produced five of his own solo art exhibitions and nearly 20 shows for a wide variety of Bay Area artists. He’s also directed and animated several music videos, as well as short pieces for rap legends Andre Nickatina, Mistah F.A.B., and Mac Dre (posthumously). His work was recently featured at SFMOMA under his visual art pseudonym, “Lil’ Zen Ten”, and in March of 2022, presented a retrospective of his animated works during the “Smartbomb VHS Universe” exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco.
MIKE PHAM
CO-PRODUCERMike is the co-founder of Booncha - a creative production studio based in Ho Chi Minh City. He's driven by the purpose of bringing true Vietnamese authenticity and culture into the growth of contemporary media via music, arts and film-making. In this journey, he had the opportunities to work on projects with international organizations and brands like CNN, 88rising, Bandai Namco, US CDC and Warner Music. Mike is also the co-founder of Nhạc Gãy, a local electronic music and art collective that is featured on MixMag, Dazed, i-D and Boiler Room.
jake l. mitchell
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHYWorking across narrative, music videos, documentaries, and commercials, Jake is a freelance cinematographer currently residing in Los Angeles. His film career has taken him around the world (US, Europe, Brazil, India, China, Japan, etc.) honing his skills as an expert and rugged cinematographer. His first documentary feature, “8 Billion Angels”, premiered at festivals globally in 2021 and went on to various streaming platforms. Mitchell has since completed two more feature documentaries and principal photography on his first feature narrative on 16mm, “Riddle of Fire”.
TUYỀN TRẦN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERTuyền has been an entrepreneur her whole life. Most of her life in Saigon she operated a successful boutique clothing store and traded goods across the world. In 2011, after a ten-year long sponsorship process by her mother, Tuyền left her hometown behind and moved to Southern California with her three children, including Khoa. Tuyền continues her small trade business here and is now going back to college in Orange County.
Photo Courtesy of Viet Anh DoanYear: 2025
Runtime: 94 minutes
Language: English, Vietnamese
Country: Vietnam, United States
Directors: Khoa Ha, Victor Velle
Producer: Douglas Emerson
Co-Producer: Mike Pham
Executive Producers: Khoa Ha, Tuyen Tran, Jon Bizarra, Justin Tuan Smith, Sanjay Sharma, Milan Chakraborty, Mike Healey
Cast: Y Vũ, Minh Hoan, Tuyền Trần, Hà Trần, Hằng Trần, Hường Nguyễn, Minh Lâm Nguyễn, Thái Thịnh, Thanh Sơn, Lý Đức, Huỳnh Hữu Thạnh, Vũ Trọng Hiếu, Mai Lê Huyền, Phương Tâm, Carol Kim, Connie Kim, Hùng Phương, Huỳnh Minh Hiệp, Cường Phạm, Mark Gergis, Jan Hagenkotter, Jason Gibbs, A.A. Rashid, Quang Đặng, Rayana Jay, Tasha Nguyen, Loyal Lobos, Phambino, Phong, Mess, Nodey, Minh Lai, Larria, Anh Phan, Hannah Ha, Vũ Văn, Yến Xuân, Triệu Long
Cinematographer: Jake L. Mitchell
Editor: Benjamin Shearn
MADE POSSIBLE BY
KHOA HA
TUYỀN TRẦN
HẰNG TRẦN
VĨNH TRƯƠNG
NGUYỄN THANH VÂN
LÊ THU AN
BRUCE EMERSON
KATHY EMERSON
JUSTIN TUÂN SMITH
YVEL SAGAILLE
LESLIE BALBAGO PRICE
ANJANNETTE PRICE
MIKE HEALEY
KERRY ZOBEL
SPEPHEN ARBOLEDA
DARLENE DELA CRUZ
SAMUEL NORTON