All posts filed under: Media

MIA Erasure, My Reflection

Published by Bryan Thao Worra

To much fanfare, the exhibit Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975 opened in Minnesota at the Minneapolis Institute of Art this month and will run until January 5th, 2020. It’s billed as a way to look at “the innovative ways artists talked back, often in the streets and other public venues. The exhibition presents nearly 100 works by 58 of the period’s most visionary, provocative artists.” For Southeast Asians of Vietnamese, Hmong, Laotian, and Cambodian descent, and active military veterans, you can even see the exhibit for free. It’s been a long time since I’ve been given free admission to an art exhibit to witness the complete erasure of my community’s perspective and reactions to the Vietnam War, the Secret War, and the Killing Fields. For Minnesotans, who arguably have one of the most deeply tangled relationships with Southeast Asia than almost any other US state, this ought to be a stirring and profound exhibit: one filled with so many heartbreaking memories and reflections on themes and issues addressed over four decades ago, …

BAM! Superheroes in Laos: An Interview with the Director of Moon City

Published by A Ou

Growing up in Laos, a superhero or superheroes to look up to are virtually nonexistent. We have to make do with foreign heroes imported into compact cds set on racks in mom and pop shops. Until now, Lao kids never had a superhero that we could call our own. Enter Hans Kaufmann, director and producer of Moon City: Rise of the Ninja Attack. Seeing this void (and how powerful an impact the heroes he grew up with made on his own childhood) he sets out to give Lao children the heroes they deserve. So tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and what led you to making this movie in Laos? Let’s see, I was born in Boston, but grew up in Detroit. Went to Michigan State. Moved to San Francisco. Got my start in the production world doing sound and lights at Rave Parties. Worked for a bunch of AV and rental houses hanging lights and plugging stuff, moving boxes, loading trucks and stuff like that. I got bored with living in …