Directed by Elizabeth Ai • 2024 • United States

Mile-high hair. Synthesized music. Underground parties. Filmmaker Elizabeth Ai excavates the untold story of the young Vietnamese American rebels who found meaning in the vibrant world of the 1980s Southern California new wave scene—and along the way rediscovers a piece of her family’s hidden past. Pulsing with the day-glo sounds and style of the era, NEW WAVE explores how a generation caught between the trauma of war and displacement and the contradictions of American pop culture forged their own synth-pop subculture. As Ai digs into the music and personalities that defined the scene, she finds unexpected connections to her own fractured family history.