San Diego Asian Film Festival 2009

Filmmaker Mark Tran was a 19-year-old San Jose State University student when he wrote the screenplay for his feature debut All About Dad (Audience Award winner, Cinequest FF), based on his experiences growing up in a large Vietnamese family in California. The main character Ty, is based loosely upon himself – a biology major about to give up his studies to pursue filmmaking (a.k.a. the worst thing a Vietnamese father could ever hear from a son).

Newcomer Chi Pham steals the show as the patriarch of the Do family, the head figure who only sees hard work, Catholicism, higher education, and loyalty to family as the only means to achieve happiness and success in life. But Mr. Do discovers the inner passions and dreams of his four children, and his world seems to unravel. This often intense family drama is at times also hilarious, touching, and heartbreaking as Mr. Do comes to terms with disappointment, realizing he must learn to accept his children as they truly are or risk losing them.

Despite the familiar story of tradition versus modernity, the film never comes off as didactic or heavy-handed. Mr. Tran’s first feature is a fine portrait of a Vietnamese American family just trying to keep up with the times. – Mye Hoang

Director/writer Mark Tran and actor Chi Pham scheduled to attend.

Co-presented by:
Vietnamese-American Youth Alliance of San Diego
Vietnamese Student Association of SDSU