Documentaries for a Cause

While I Breathe, I Hope

This feature-length documentary follows the story of Bakari Sellers and what it means to be young, black, and Democrat in the American South today.

Winner of the Audience Award for "Best Documentary Feature" at the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival! Also officially selected to screen at DocNYC, Indie Grits Film Festival, Hot Springs Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, the Oxford Film Festival, the Beaufort International Film Festival, the Pan African Film Festival, the Hayti Heritage Film Festival, and the Toronto Black Film Festival. It also had its broadcast premiere on PBS and World Channel on February 11th, 2019, and is streaming for free until March 13th on the PBS website: www.pbs.org/video/while-i-breathe-i-hope-wf0anw/

Directed by: Emily Harrold
Produced by: Emily Harrold, Xuan Vu, Diane Robertson, & Lauren Franklin
Executive Producers: Marco Williams, Jedd Canty, Charlemagne Tha God, Karen Kinney
Directors of Photography: Alexander J. Hufschmid, Kyle I. Kelley, Kelley Creedon
Editor: Xuan Vu
TRT: Feature-Length / Color / Lynwood Pictures © 2018

La Fundación Palmitas Unidas (The Little Palms United Foundation)

This feature-length film documents the successes and challenges of a youth foundation for abused, abandoned, and starving children, located in the small, remote town of Salento, Colombia. The film follows the foundation’s founder and director, Gloria Ospina Pineda as she struggles to keep the doors of the foundation open for the children who need it; in the face of insufficient funding, lack of help and resources, and her own serious health problems.

Directed by: Xuan Vu
Produced by: Xuan Vu & Monserrat Corsino
Director of Photography: Xuan Vu
Editor: Xuan Vu
TRT: Feature-Length Work-In-Progress/ Color / Zixin Films © 2019

Female Migrant Workers for the International Labor Organization - Work Sample

Commissioned by the International Labor Organization, this film explores the stories of female migrant workers, the dangers and challenges they encounter, and the tips and skills needed to navigate this new avenue of financial independence & empowerment for the women of Nepal.

Director/Producer: Julie Bridgham
Director of Photography: Dinesh Deokota
Editor: Dinesh Deokota
Finishing Editor: Xuan Vu
ILO © 2016

Can

This feature documentary follows Can Truong and the challenges he faces as a Vietnam War refugee suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.

Winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the 2015 Viet Film Fest, the largest Vietnamese film festival in the world, and officially selected to screen at the 2014 Boston Asian American Film Festival!

For more info about the film, please visit: amongourkin.org
Director & Producer: Pearl Park
Editor & Associate Producer: Xuan Vu
Light Fish Arts LLC © 2012

HOLY CRAP!

Holy Crap! is a short documentary about SOIL, a non-profit organization working in Haiti to convert human waste into rich, viable fertilizer using dry, composting toilets.

This film has been featured as a "Special Video: In the Field" on the National Geographic website! - www.oursoil.org

Director & Producer: Jennifer Benorden
Director of Photography: Tamara Gurbis
Editor: Xuan Vu
TRT: 03:35
© 2011 by Jennifer Benorden

Behind Stage Curtains

This short documentary follows a stage troupe of first through third graders in Brookline, MA, as they prepare for a major stage production while wrestling with childhood social issues. When Louise, a deaf child, joins the hearing children in the production, they learn the values of acceptance, communication, and friendship.

View this film on CultureUnplugged.com

Directors: Xuan Vu & Michael Wertlieb
Director of Photography: Michael Wertlieb
Editor: Xuan Vu
Music by: Mica Richards
Samara Films © 2011

RECLAIMING THEIR VOICE: The Native American Vote in New Mexico & Beyond

This feature documentary follows Native Americans throughout the country as they work to strengthen their voting rights and increase minority participation in elections. WINNER of the "Best New Mexico Film" in the 2010 Duke City DocFest!

Watch the whole film here. For more info, please visit: Dorothy Fadiman

Director/Producer: Dorothy Fadiman
Narrator: Peter Coyote
Associate Producers: Xuan Vu & Justine Strayhorn
Cinematographers: Matt Luotto, Rob Althouse, & Alice Fernando-Ahmie
Principal Editors: Matt Luotto & Xuan Vu
TRT: 41:30
Concentric Media © 2010

'America's First Muslims' for CNN's This is Life with Lisa Ling - Work Sample

Lisa meets 3 different African American Muslims and learns that Islam has had a long history in America as well as the power of Islam to reshape lives in the black community.

Executive Producers: Lisa Ling, Amy Bucher, & David Shadrack-Smith
Producer/Director: Heidi Burke
Director of Photography: Omar Mullick
Editor: Xuan Vu
Part2 Pictures © 2017

'Engage the Enemy' for Animal Planet's Ocean Warriors - Work Sample

Ocean Warriors weaves stories of courage and conflict, from the Antarctic's remote Southern Ocean to the coral reefs of Tanzania and the vast tuna fisheries of the Western Pacific.

Director: Mark Benjamin
Senior Producer: Christopher Bryson
Director of Photography: Ben Logan
Editor: Peter Schmuhl
Finishing Editor: Xuan Vu
Vulcan Productions © 2016

'My Mind' from Showtime's Dark Net S2 DocuSeries - Work Sample

A family torn apart by the effects of PTSD are saved by virtual reality.

For more info on the series, Dark Net, visit: http://www.sho.com/dark-net

Producer & Writer: Allison Koch
Director of Photography: Nora Ballard
Editor: Xuan Vu
Music: Justin Melland
Airdate: April 6, 2017
Part2 Pictures © 2017

'Exploit' from Showtime's Dark Net DocuSeries - Work Sample

"Exploit", the third episode on the premiere season of Showtime's Dark Net series, exposes the terrible crime of child pornography and reveals the roots of pedophilia.

A review from the Hollywood Reporter says, "[I]n the especially wrenching episode three, the series tackles the terrible ubiquitousness of child pornography on the deep web, looking at both the exploiters (mostly Western men) and the exploited — in this case the residents of a village in the Philippines where selling your children for virtual sex is a tacitly accepted practice due to how lucrative it can be. It's as if Dark Net wants us to be simultaneously repelled and seduced by everything we see, a simulacrum of the very emotions the Internet often stirs in its users."

For more info on the series, Dark Net, visit: http://www.sho.com/dark-net

Director & Writer: Billy Shebar
Producers: France Costrel, Jenny Kubo, & Billy Shebar
Directors of Photography: Peter Hutchins & Giuseppe Malpasso
Editor: Xuan Vu
Music: Justin Melland
Airdate: February 4, 2016
Part2 Pictures © 2016

"Our Private Idaho" from America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa

American suburbs are becoming more diverse, but the “exurbs” that surround them remain overwhelmingly white. In this half-hour episode on PBS's America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa, we visit Coeur d’Alene, Idaho— a town that successfully ousted the Aryan Nations in 2000, but remains overwhelmingly white.

For the full episode, please click here and confirm your local PBS station.

For more info on the series, America by the Numbers, visit: http://www.americabythenumbers.org.

Director & Producer: Billy Shebar
Director of Photography: Jonathan Furmanski
Editor: Xuan Vu
Music by: Wendy Blackstone
Airdate on WORLD: Oct 16, 2014
Airdate on PBS Weekend: Oct 18, 2014
Futuro Media Group © 2014

'Civil War Sabotage?"' from PBS's History Detectives Special Investigations DocuSeries - Work Sample

The steamship Sultana exploded without warning one night in 1865, killing 1,800 people.

For more info on the series, History Detectives, visit: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives

Producer/Directorr: Billy Shebar
Directors of Photography: Teodoro Maniaci & John Murphy
Editors: Trevor Ristow & Xuan Vu
Lion Television © 2014

SurvivorNet - Nipple Tattoo Mini-Doc

SurvivorNet is a comprehensive website for cancer patients, offering resources such as informational articles and videos featuring interviews with current patients, survivors, and -- perhaps most valuable -- doctors that most patients would not otherwise have access to, such as physicians from the Mayo Clinic and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This mini-doc, about one breast cancer survivor and another Wall-Street-trader-turned-medical-tattoo-artist, was one such informational video made for SurvivorNet's website.

University Preparatory Academy Promotional Video

The mission of University Preparatory Academy in Pinellas County is to provide students with the academic, leadership, and social skills that will enable them to attend and graduate from an institution of higher education.

Executive Producer: James Lawler
Director/Producer: Blake Ashman Kipervaser
Director of Photography: Axel Baumann
Editor: Xuan Vu
Original Music by: Gingger Shankar
Osmosis Films © 2015

'A Vote for Trump' - Video for America Heard Web Series

Part of the America Heard web series, a collaborative effort by indie filmmakers across from the country who attempted to understand the other side and bridge the partisan divide.

We meet Bo McBratnie of Orangeburg, South Carolina, in the weeks after the 2016 election. He offers straight talk and explains why he voted for Donald Trump.

To check out other films in the series, please visit: https://americaheard.com/

Director/Producer: Emily Harrold
Director of Photography: Kelly Creedon
Editor: Xuan Vu
America Heard © 2017

'The New Deciders' - Promotional Video for America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa

Short promotional video for PBS's America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: Learn how Asian American, Black Millennial, Arab American, and Latino Evangelical voters are exerting their growing strength and influence in this 2016 election special about power and politics, demographics and democracy.

Executive Producer & Anchor: Maria Hinojosa
Director/Producer: Charlotte Mangin & Titi Yu
Director of Photography: Paul d eLumen
Editor: Sonia Gonzalez-Martinez
Promo Editor: Xuan Vu
Original Music by: Wendy Blackstone
Airdate: September 6, 2016
Futuro Media Group © 2016

'The Strange Death of José de Jesús' - Web Video for NPR's Latino USA

José de Jesús, a 31-year-old Mexican immigrant, was found dead in his cell after just three days in immigration detention.

Find out more at http://latinousa.org/josedejesus/

Executive Producer: Maria Hinojosa
Producers: Fernanda Echávarri & Marlon Bishop
Editor: Xuan Vu
Original Music by: Noam Hassenfeld
Latino USA © 2016

Pillow Talk

This weekly web series by Preston Bailey, a world-renowned event designer, showcases personal industry experience and advice to all aspiring event designers and creative entrepreneurs, straight from the pages of Preston's own diaries.

FEATURED ON THE HUFF/POST50!

Executive Producer: Preston Bailey
Director/Producer: Kathleen McNenny
Director of Photography: Matt Stiller
Editor: Xuan Vu
Original Music by: Nick Choksi
Preston Bailey © 2015

Shower Your Garden

WINNER of the 2009 "I Love SF Water" video contest!

Director & Producer: Alexis van Gelder
Director of Photography: Lisa Konczal
Editor: Xuan Vu
Music by: Automae
Starring: Julianne Yates
Alexis van Gelder & Team © 2009

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