Center for Asian American Media

Children of Cambodian refugees - three teens in Lowell, Massachusetts - inhabit a gritty blue-collar world shadowed by their parents’ nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Traditional Cambodian dance links them to their parents’ culture, but fast cars, hip consumerism and new romance pull harder.

Their parents fled the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970s, making their way through the jungle to refugee camps in Thailand. In the early 1980s, they resettled in Lowell, a historic New England mill city now home to the country’s second-largest Cambodian community. For these parents, Lowell held the hope of safety, employment and a chance to finally rebuild some of what was shattered by the Khmer Rouge. But for their children, the city offers a dizzying array of choices – many of them risky. MONKEY DANCE is the story of how three kids navigate the confusing landscape of urban adolescence and ultimately begin to make good on their parents’ hopes and dreams.

“MONKEY DANCE offers a fascinating portrait of a working class Asian American community. Her portrayal of immigrant youth was a catalyst for thought-provoking and stimulating classroom discussion... Mallozzi’s...complex depiction of these college-bound students offers a third option, one metaphorically represented by dance. In focusing on Cambodian Americans, Mallozzi’s film expands the canon of Asian American Studies and is a valuable resource for any Ethnic Studies classroom.”

- University of Wisconsin, Madison

Awards
Audience Favourite Feature Award, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
Insight Award, National Association of Film & Digital Media Artists

Recognition
Museum of Natural History, New York
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
Refugee Film Festival: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Harvard Film Archive
National Public Television Broadcast

Note for K-12/Public Library/Community Groups

If there is no discount pricing listed, please contact us.

For details and for previews, email distribution@asianamericanmedia.org
or call (415) 552-9550.