Directed by Spencer Nakasako and Sokly Ny • 1995 • United States
Starring Sokly Ny
Working in collaboration with veteran filmmaker Spencer Nakasako, Sokly Ny (a.k.a. “Don Bonus”), an eighteen-year-old Cambodian refugee growing up in public housing in the San Francisco Bay Area, documents his senior year of high school. What he captures, in intimate, diaristic camcorder footage, is a raw, personal portrait of everyday struggle and survival marked by a host of familial, economic, and academic challenges, offering a candid look at what it means to come of age as a young immigrant in America.
Up Next in First-Person Asian American: 11 Documentaries
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My America . . . or Honk If You Love ...
Directed by Renee Tajima-Peña • 1997 • United States
Starring Renee Tajima-Peña, Victor WongIntoxicating and irreverent, Renee Tajima-Peña’s award-winning documentary takes inspiration from Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” recapturing the novel’s spirit in a fresh and different journey through a n...
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First Person Plural
Directed by Deann Borshay Liem • 2000 • United States
Starring Deann Borshay LiemIn 1966, Deann Borshay Liem was adopted by an American family and sent from Korea to her new home. Growing up in California, the memory of her birth family was nearly obliterated, until recurring dreams lead Deann ...
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I Was Born, But . . .
Directed by Roddy Bogawa • 2004 • United States
Taking its title from a silent classic by Yasujiro Ozu, this uncompromisingly personal diary film from Roddy Bogawa finds the director journeying through his memories, from his childhood in Hawaii to his involvement in the LA punk scene of the 1970...
