Lil Paypa
An early short by Van Minh Nguyen, San Francisco-based experimental filmmaker and media activist.
PLUS - trailer for CIRCLE

Van Minh Nguyen   “Filmmaking is Life”

CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION: Opened, a new short film bySan Francisco director Van Minh Nguyen.

The Synopsis:

Lena, a Vietnamese woman in her early thirties, works in a busy nail shop. In an attempt to find acceptance within herself she seeks out eyelid surgery to open her eyes. “Good eyes are important, it’s how the world sees you and how you see the world,” says her influential co-worker.  But it is Lena’s interactions with her daughter, a stranger and a vision from the past that truly challenges her plan. Which eye will she open?

Asian Blepharoplasty, also known as “double lid” surgery, has become an increasingly common procedure for Asian women in the United States. Although the practice has gone on for several decades, the controversy it created has never waned. Much has been written on the topic and, yes, even a number of films (mostly documentary) have been made about it.  But Opened is different.

Filmmaker Van Minh Nguyen describes Opened as “a short poetic experimental narrative film” that asks which is more important…the opening of the physical eye or the opening of the spiritual self-accepting eye?  ATO caught up with Nguyen and asked her to tell us more.

ATO:  What is a “poetic experimental narrative”?

Nguyen:  That’s how I label my style of filmmaking. I don’t claim to have invented this style, of course, but that’s the way I like to approach my storytelling. It follows a narrative structure, but not everything is spelled out to the viewer. I hope to encourage thinking and exploration through the words, images and sounds in the film. And because not everything is spoonfed, there is much that viewers will have to reason out on their own.

ATO:  How will that translate to the screen?  What will it look like?

Nguyen:  A good example would be a scene where Lena is contemplating the surgery.  We see her and we see flashes of related things, like her daughter and images of eyelid surgery being performed.  At the same time we hear a montage of sounds – the doctor’s voice, chanting from the Buddhist temple – a number of things.  All the sounds and visuals are related to the story but follow a different pattern than people are used to seeing.

ATO:   So your style is akin to poetry in that the meanings and symbolism are not direct and can be interpreted in a number of ways?  Will this be clear to the viewer?

Nguyen:   Well, one set of sounds and images will mean different things to different people.  But I think communication is more effective when people are invited to think for themselves.  So, yes, the film’s meaning will be clear but will vary somewhat from viewer to viewer.

ATO:  When did this style begin to emerge in your work?

Nguyen:  It really started with Never Stop Longing, which was done when I was at University of California, Santa Cruz.  That was the first time I used a poetic narrative form to tell the story of an immigrant woman’s dreams of coming to America and the realities she faced when she got here. 

ATO:  Back to Opened - you’ve said elsewhere that when you discussed this film with your mother,

  “…I told her that I was interested in telling a story about a young girl’s experience witnessing her mother undergoing cosmetic surgery to change her Asian features. My mother laughed then made the connection saying, “like you? When you were eight or ten, you would come with me and your dad and wait while I was at the doctor’s office.” Then it hit me, I wasn’t just making up a story that surrounded an issue for my thesis project.  I was in fact, drawing on a moment of my life that I could not fully recall. I was digging up a lost memory. The truth is that I don’t remember being eight and waiting with my father in Little Saigon or seeing my mother in stitches. I just knew at a young age that beauty, the “right” kind of beauty, was important to my mother.Cosmetic surgery was something I grew up with.”

How, then, did you explain to your mother your reasons for making this film – and did your mother’s revelation to you affect your treatment of the subject matter?

Hear Van’s response by clicking the player below.

ATO:   You describe yourself as a media/art activist using film, poetry, dance and your spiritual studies as a Buddhist and Priestess of Yemaya, in the Lukumi Tradition, as tools of expression and healing.  Those spiritual qualities – especially the Buddhism - certainly seem to be evident in the idea behind Opened.

Nguyen:   There very definitely is a tie to Buddhism in the film in that it deals with both the opening of the physical eye and the opening of the spiritual eye.  The main characters, as I’ve said, are contemplating the opening of the physical eye through eyelid surgery, and there’s another character – a young man – who is seeking out the opening of his third eye and is trying to understand Dharma.  So the spiritual connections are very strong in the film, and the title – Opened – just seemed right.

ATO:   Also in your self-description you use the term “media/art activist”.  What is that?

Nguyen:   That’s my way of defining what I do, which is basically taking video and film production skills and applying them to the community.  My avenue has been working with young people – so that’s my activism – teaching production skills to youth so that they have a means of expression and can hopefully bring about positive change and growth.

ATO:  How did that come about?

Nguyen:   Well, my own activism began in high school when I joined a group working with the community to help combat gang violence.  That was the first time I saw what a difference you can make by speaking up. After college (a BA in Film and Video Production from the University of California, Santa Cruz) I knew I wanted to connect to the community through filmmaking.  That led me to East Palo Alto where a friend got me involved in an after school program teaching video production to youths.  I felt that something was missing, though, and beyond just receiving extra credit I thought the students should get more out of the experience.  I wanted them to use this as a way to express themselves and take it out to the community.  So I developed a video crew that would allow the students to take part in every step of the process – from writing and shooting all the way to arranging screenings and entering festivals.  This all brought a lot of positive attention to the kids – something they weren’t used to – and it was a great thing.  So I’ve continued to do that kind of work – that kind of activism - since that time. 

ATO:  OK, let’s take a look at some of your filmography. You mentioned Never Stop Longing.

Nguyen:  That was about a woman’s dream of coming to America and about how the realities and struggles faced by her – and immigrants in general – are not quite what she imagined or expected.  And like I said, that was the beginning of my poetic narrative style.

ATO:   And you carried that style through subsequent films like Circle and Five Fruits.

Nguyen:   Yes.  Circle is a short poetic story of an ancient warrior woman whose true battle begins at death as an ancestral spirit. She seeks out her reincarnated daughter who is now living in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. And Five Fruits is about the experience of being the child of refugee parents.

ATO:   Much like yourself.

Nguyen:   Right, my parents are Vietnamese refugees and I grew up in San Marcos, California.  So, yes, that film is based on personal experience and melds that together with the experiences my mother had during the Vietnam war.

ATO:   Another film – also with a very strong spiritual tone – is Offering to Yemaya.

Nguyen:   That is another short poetic narrative about the efforts of a little boy to cure his sick mother by going to the ocean to make offerings to Yemaya – the protector of mothers in the Lukumi Tradition.  And for experimental and economic reasons that film was done on Super 8, whereas my other projects have been on 16mm.  Offering to Yemaya is still a work-in-progress – all the shooting is done but I’m not finished putting it together.

ATO:   What about Lil Paypa?

Nguyen:   That was done when I was working with the Young Media Activist Crew, the group that formed from the program I taught in East Palo Alto.  Lil Paypa was the nickname of an actual student who was sent to my class.  She was very troubled and there was a lot she needed to express, so we built a video project around her.  While she discussed her life and feelings she really let out what was bothering her and causing her to walk down the particular path she was taking. By doing this, by learning to express herself, Paypa really went through a transformation – which was a strong moment in her life – and a defining moment for me as well.

ATO:   Where has your work been shown?

Nguyen:   The films have been screened in local film festivals throughoutSanta Cruz and the San Francisco Bay Area, including theSanta Cruz 6th Annual Women of Color Film Festival and inSan Francisco’s New Youth Communication Expo, Image Gallery.  Plus, some have aired on Santa Cruz Public television.  And recently Circle was an official selection to the Vietnamese International Film Festival – and the response was very good.  I was honored to be a part of that festival because I’m really pleased with the way Vietnamese film is beginning to take off.  When I first started there were no Vietnamese film festivals and very few Vietnamese filmmakers.  But that’s all beginning to change now.

ATO:   An observation:  all of your films deal with Vietnamese or at least Asian issues or subject matter.  Comment?

Hear Van’s response:

ATO:   One final question, Van.  As a media/art activist whose films deal with humanistic themes and carry strong spiritual messages – what do you hope to achieve?  What is the ultimate goal of your work?

Nguyen:   The goal of my work is to bring healing to people – to myself, my family and to those who watch my films.  Additionally, I hope that my films help open doors and encourage different ways of thinking for other filmmakers – and particularly Asian female filmmakers.  By that I mean I want to encourage other artists to really think about issues and speak up about them.  That’s why I have participated in things like the Young Media Activist Crew – because I want to give people the tools to be more aware and create meaningful dialogue that leads to positive change. 

ATO:   I can certainly understand how your goals as a filmmaker and as a teacher are in keeping with your spiritual beliefs – especially the ideas about enlightenment. 

Nguyen:   I would say that for me as a person Buddhism and Lukumi are tools that, although different, work in harmony to help me have a sense of insight, keep me grounded and teach me humbleness.  They keep me aware of the bigger picture and remind me that everyone is seeking the same things – happiness and a higher consciousness.   In my own life I work toward those things by choosing to surround myself with positive energy.  Filmmaking is positive energy – and so I believe that filmmaking is life and life is filmmaking.

*editor’s note:  Van Minh Nguyen is currently seeking her MFA in Cinema Production atSan Francisco State University.  Opened is her thesis film.

Find out more about Van Nguyen at her website:  www.oversoulproductions.com

Read more about Asian Blepharoplasty at:  www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.27.96/asian-eyes-9626.html

Own a copy of CIRCLE

CIRCLE by Van Minh Nguyen is available on DVD.  This short experimental film features a dreamlike narrative and stunning imagery. To find out how to get your copy, email:
openedfilm@yahoo.com

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