Supermarket Affairs
While preparing for her husband’s death anniversary, an immigrant Vietnamese mother and her Americanized adult daughter butt heads and inadvertently drag a handsome stranger from the local Asian market into their messy family dynamic.
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor Hang Luong Nguyen
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
In my second year of the MFA film program at UT Austin, I was given a chance to make another short film in the US context with more creative control and freedom as well as support. I took the opportunity to explore existing themes that I’ve been interested in, ie. grief and the meaning of family and mother-daughter relationship. I drew a lot of inspiration from the experience of navigating my own relationship with my mother after the departure of my father. In a way, making this film is a healing process for me, a type of self-therapy. On another hand, it’s also a Vietnamese story and a story of Vietnamese immigrants in the US. And obviously, my endless fascination for America’s Asian supermarkets and supermarkets in general!
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You surely will have a lot of fun watching this film just as how each and every character in the film has a lot of fun themselves. Besides the touching mother-daughter story that a lot of us can relate to, the oddball 'love triangle', there's also a hilarious karaoke video-inspired sequence and a lot of cinematic smoking in the film! Have you ever wondered why movie characters smoke so much on the screen? Well, characters in this film do smoke a lot, and actually talk about it!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I do believe the most personal themes are the most universal. In this case, the grieving of a loved one, is a human tragedy. And the reason why human tragedy is a tragedy and is so humane is because a lot of us experience it at some point in our lives, all the time. Be it yourself, your friends and family, your colleague, the person next door, an old Vietnamese immigrant woman, or a handsome stranger at the supermarket. Though, since it's so personal to me, the challenge is to be inspired without being literal about it. Using a mixture of comedy and tragedy helps, and the comedy in fact makes the tragedy more intense.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I think Supermarket Affairs is one of the films that stayed pretty close to the script and my initial vision. I did have to condense some scenes and make the storytelling more concise to fit it in the limited shooting time, which made it better in a way. Originally, the Handsome Man was an old man, not a younger one, and there was a whole chase between him and the protagonist inside the supermarket! While the chase became a briefer moment for logistical reasons, making him younger and more handsome is a happy decision due to me meeting actor Jonathan Moon and seeing the magic he brought to the character!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Generally positive, it's an audience's favorite! In fact, it won the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at the 2023 Viet Film Fest. A lot of people said the comedy was effective, and the touching moments were really touching, which means the film succeeded to a certain degree in treading the fine line between comedy and drama. But the strongest reactions so far were with the Asian film festivals where the audience felt strongly related due to their similar experience!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Besides the positive reviews, some other feedback was more critical citing the familiarity and the common themes of family and generational trauma found in many Asian/Asian American films and again in this one. I appreciated that feedback and it challenged my filmmaking to be better. At the same time, it is kind of expected. I believe how we want to say what we want to say is just as important.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Hopefully, the film getting featured on We Are Moving Stories will lead to other distribution opportunities. Other than that, independent filmmakers like me can use all the exposure we can get! This is a very challenging path, one can just hope that the next thing will be just a little more easier.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
It would be fantastic if sales agents, buyers, and distributors could see its potential and come on board to bring it to a larger audience, those who can appreciate both its comedic chops and heartfelt moments. Besides, I always welcome US-based producers who want to collaborate on the next projects and talent agents who are interested in representing me and my work!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Without a doubt, it aims to contribute to the representation of Asian people and immigrants on the big screen. More specifically, stories about older immigrants are still little told and I hope that will change. If this film could prompt its audience to reevaluate their relationships with their family, to mend generational gaps, and to try to understand their parents and children a little better, that would be a huge success.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How much do you think you understand your parents or children, especially when they are first or second-generation?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I just finished another short film I directed, a coming-of-age drama called Rooftop Lempicka essentially capturing what it's like to grow up in 2000s Vietnam as a girl. I'm very excited (and nervous!) to be releasing it very soon this year. Meanwhile, I'm also developing a first feature film based on the same concept. It will be a lot of work, but I think it will be very rewarding. Wish me a lot of luck!
Interview: April 2024
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Supermarket Affairs
While preparing for her husband’s death anniversary, an immigrant Vietnamese mother and her Americanized adult daughter butt heads and inadvertently drag a handsome stranger from the local Asian market into their messy family dynamic.
Length: 15:41
Director: Hang Luong Nguyen
Producer: Camille Morales-Zayas
Writer: Hang Luong Nguyen
About the writer, director and producer:
HANG LUONG NGUYEN (in Vietnamese: Nguyễn Lương Hằng) is a Texas-based Vietnamese writer-director who is interested in exploring the Vietnamese female identity in global and familial contexts. She has a couple of award-winning short films and a feature she produced under her belt, and is developing her directorial debut feature set in Vietnam. She got her MFA in Film Production from the University of Texas at Austin.
CAMILLE MORALES-ZAYAS is a Writer, Director & Producer from San Juan, Puerto Rico currently based in Austin, Texas. Her festival-recognized films tell intimate stories based on complex emotions within relationships that border on the surreal and deeply personal. Camille recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Media Production from The University of Texas at Austin.
Key cast: Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc, Quyen Ngo, Jonathan Moon, Eli Berke, Thanh Bui
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, buyers
Facebook: Hang Luong Nguyen
Instagram: @hang_jj_nguyen
Hashtags used: #SupermarketAffairs, #VietnameseFilm, #VietnameseCinema
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: University of Texas at Austin, June Third Films
Funders: Self-funded with partial monetary and in-kind supports from the University of Texas at Austin, June Third Films, and the Austin Film Society.
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
The film has recently finished its festival run, and hopefully in the upcoming months will find a suitable online distribution opportunity.