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AVAILABLE NOW!

Our new DVDs are hot off the press and available for delivery...

Just make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to VYDC
and get both DVDs Free!*

Donation Range $1 to $1000. Suggested Donation $25.

To pay by check, please make check payable to VYDC and mail it to VYDC, 150 Eddy Street , San Francisco, CA 94102. Be sure to include your current mailing address so that you get your DVDs!

Spencer Nakasako's Trilogy
Get all 3 of award-winning filmmaker Spencer Nakasako's films on one DVD. a.k.a. Don Bonus, Kelly Loves Tony, and Refugee
Own the films that kept real before reality TV!  
Special Features include: Director's Commentary, Update Interviews, and Deleted Scenes.

Tenderloin Stories: Youth Produced Videos
Our 2nd DVD highlights the best of 15 years worth of youth videos from Spencer Nakasako's Media Lab at VYDC. Own the videos that smashed barriers and gave a voice to urban Asian American refugee youth.
Special Features include: Cast update interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at Spencer's video workshops!

Just make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to the Vietnamese Youth Development Center and get 2 DVDs Free!

TRILOGY SYNOPSES

a.k.a. Don Bonus (1995, 55 mins.)

National EmmyŠ for Outstanding Informational or Cultural Programming

" ...filmed by a student very much on the edge academically, but self-revealing, sensitive and able to laugh at himself. It is a perfect antidote to simplistic 'model minority' stereotypes about Asian students... " -- Gary Orfield, Harvard University

Cambodian-born Sokly "Don Bonus" Ny struggles to graduate from high school and survive the realities of San Francisco's housing rojects. Don shares these experiences, his personal feelings, and his hopes as the year progresses. Ultimately, "a.k.a. Don Bonus" becomes a story of triumph and survival from the perspective of one of America's newest arrivals.

Kelly Loves Tony (1998, 57 mins.)

Best Feature Nomination, International Documentary Association

"... a poignant slice of 90s melting pot life." --Variety

Oakland, California... She's a straight-A student with dreams of college, he's trying to leave gang life behind. Together this young Mien couple creates a video diary of their struggles with parenthood, jobs, school, family, and the law.

Refugee (2002, 60 mins.)

Inspirational Film Award, Hamptons International Film Festival

"...a vivid sense of personal adventure ...sports considerable dynamism, narrative oomph and emotional directness." -- Dennis Harvey, Variety

For Mike Siv, the trip begins innocently enough... "Me and my homies, David and Paul, we're going to Cambodia. We'll see the sights, visit family, have some fun." But a simple reunion becomes a journey of self-discovery, maturation and acceptance, against a backdrop of war, broken families, and long separation.

TENDERLOIN STORIES SYNOPSES

A sampling of some of the videos on Tenderloin Stories DVD...

 

"TL Xmas" Keng Tang, Phanna Chea, Charles Duong, Phu Pham Tran, Rinn Roeun, Sammy Soun
What does Christmas mean in the Tenderloin? Is it any more than annual toy giveaways and a handful of Santa suits?

"Express Lane" Aram Collier, Rudy Choy
An adrenaline-laced and technically dynamic thriller centered around a chase through urban San Francisco.

"Table for Thu" Linh Nguyen
A behind-the-scenes documentary look at a Vietnamese coffee shop in the Tenderloin.

"Get Off Your Koot!" Ra Sek
An intriguing and complex story of money, friendship, and ambition that shows how breakdancing is still alive and flaring.

"Homegirls Can Have Fun Too" Timmy Hoang
Two sisters defy their old-fashioned father for a day at the mall. Will their cover be blown?

"Private" Gia Hy Chung
A young man dreams of escaping his overbearing girlfriend?by joining the Army. But which is the real nightmare?

"The Seven of Us" Sarah Diep
A documentary of a day (and night) in the life of the director and her six fun-seeking girlfriends.

"TL Style" Sophal Meas, David Mark
Sophal and David hit the streets to find what styles are poppin' in the new millennium.

"Who I Became" Mike Siv, Aram Collier
This documentary follows Ponnleou Chea, a 21 year old Cambodian American man facing impending fatherhood, deportation, and the pull of the street life. This film was featured as part of the nationally broadcast PBS series "Matters of Race".