Saigon, U.S.A

Nisei Soldiers: Japanese American G.I. Joes

April 2017 •English

Leaving internment camps to defend their country in Europe, Japanese-American Nisei soldiers of WWII became the most decorated unit in American history.

Tokio - Die Stadtkultur von morgen

July 2021 •German

Mah-Jongg: The Tiles that Bind

June 1998 •English

A light-hearted yet deeply moving portrait of the Asian- and Jewish-American women who play this centuries-old Chinese game, shedding light on the common and uncommon experiences of the players that simultaneously define and transcend cultural boundaries. Along the way, it proves again and again to be a bridge connecting seemingly unlike individuals, spanning generations, continents and cultures, and transcending classification as merely a game.

Last Days in Vietnam

September 2014 •English

During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

Mi Barrios Altos querido

March 2019 •Spanish

Five stories about dignity in the capital of Peru. A local leader looking for someone to leave the post of her complex work, a tourist guide who is a patron of the architectural heritage and Creole music, an ex-delinquent rescued by the Evangelical Church, a teenage dancer of Afro-Peruvian music forced to emigrate and a muralist of Bellas Artes son of Andean migrants, they try to get ahead in Barrios Altos, the most feared – but also most beloved – historic neighborhood of Lima.

Cracks in the Mask

June 1997 •English

A century ago the Torres Strait Island were the subjects of the famous Cambridge Anthropological Expedition - the resulting depletion of their cultural artifacts left them with nothing but a history of remembered loss. The only people in the Pacific to make elaborate turtleshell masks have none left - they are all in foreign museums. In a quest to reclaim the past, Ephraim Bani, a wise and knowledgeable Torres Strait Islander, travels with his wife to the great museums of Europe where his heritage lies. The film, an SBS Independent production, shows that the thickest of masks cracks when a descendant of the original owners enters a museum.

The Whole Gritty City

October 2013 •English

Young members of 3 New Orleans school marching bands grow up in America's most musical city, and one of its most dangerous. Their band directors get them ready to perform in the Mardi Gras parades, and teach them to succeed and to survive.

Free Chol Soo Lee

August 2022 •English

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Tokyo Ride

September 2020 •English

Revisiting the genre of the road movie in a very diaristic and personal way, the film takes us on board architect Ryue Nishizawa’s vintage Alfa Romeo (Giulia) for a day long wandering in the streets of Tokyo.

David Gan: the Front Lines

January 2012 •English

A young David Gan joins the WWII effort, eager to serve his country. Feelings of exclusion as a Chinese-American disappear in the Army. After experiencing the loss of so many fallen comrades, David dedicates his life to those who never came home.

This is How the Obelisk Was Born

October 1936 •

The construction of the Obelisco in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ma bande magnétique arrière

June 2009 •French

VIET≈NAM ≈ HANOISE

Invalid date •English

Hanoise is a portrait of the little known, but very rich, experimental music scene from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It showcases a diverse array of the city's musical mavericks and avant-garde explorers, merging the sounds of the city and the experimentations of a young community braving the local cultural prohibitions.

In Ictu Oculi

October 2020 •Basque

The six-decade transformation of a block of houses, shown by means of artfully featured archival shots, highlights the beauty and sadness of human-made decay. In the blink of an eye 66 years pass by and a savings bank replaces a church.

Seadrift

January 2019 •English

On August 3rd, 1979, a Vietnamese refugee shoots and kills a white crab fisherman at the town docks in Seadrift, TX. What began as a fishing dispute erupts in violence and ignites a resurgence of the KKK and open hostilities against the Vietnamese along the Gulf Coast. Set during the early days of Vietnamese refugee arrival, “Seadrift” examines the circumstances that led up to the shooting, its tumultuous aftermath, and the unexpected consequences that continue to reverberate today.

Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo

January 2009 •English

When Tomoko finds some messages for a 'Mr Smith' on a lost mobile phone, she finds herself on an 'Alice in Wonderland' journey through Tokyo's boulevards and back alleys. From the tyranny of symmetry in soaring office blocks - to buildings that look like space-ships, this creative documentary shows us the city's soul.

Dr Tscharniblues

June 1979 •German

Bern, 1979: a tower block called Tscharnergut. A group of friends get together to make a film about their experiences growing up in suburban Switzerland.

Eine vo dene

June 1980 •German

Bern, 1980: A caleidoscopic portrait of Swiss urban life in the early 1980s.

War of Art

March 2019 •English

What happens when a group of international artists travel to North Korea to create art like the regime have never seen before? While the world is on the verge of nuclear war, a group of Western contemporary artists are invited into the eye of the storm. The aim is to collaborate with North Korean artists in a creative exchange project displaying new and challenging art in a country where abstract art is forbidden.

Giap's Last Day At The Ironing Board Factory

March 2015 •English

In 1975, a seven-months pregnant Vietnamese refugee, Giap, escapes Saigon in a boat and, within weeks, finds herself working on an assembly line in Seymour, Indiana. 35 years later, her aspiring filmmaker son, Tony, decides to document her final day of work at the last ironing board factory in America.