Center for Asian American Media

Life for most young Vietnamese youth in the United States is a “life like dust.” This film goes inside the mind of Ricky Phan, once a gang leader in Southern California and now serving an 11-year sentence for armed robbery. Shot over a three-year period before Ricky’s arrest, BUI DOI... explores his memories of childhood in war-weary Saigon, his days in the U.S. as a “gangster,” and then his life in a state prison. Which is more violent: fleeing from a war-ravaged nation or trying to survive in an alien Western culture?

“...LIFE LIKE DUST offers a fresh view of a part of society that mainstream movies ignore.”

- New York Times

“A film not to be missed. It is told frankly, using cinema verite techniques and archival footage, but is not afraid to take cinematic liberties to relate its compelling story of lost youth.”

- John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival

Awards
Best Short Doc, Int’l Documentary Awards
CINE Golden Eagle
Golden Gate Award, Certificate of Merit, San Francisco International Film Festival
Gold Apple, National Educational Media Network
Grand Prize, USA Film Festival

Recognition
Sundance Film Festival
National PBS Broadcast

Related Films
Letter Back Home
The Story of Vinh

College/Institution

K-12/Public Library/Community Group