fbpx

A.K.A. Don Bonus

USA199565 minEnglishArchive PresentationDocumentary

Cambodian-born Sokly “Don Bonus” Ny takes a Hi8 camcorder into his final year of high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, documenting intersecting events happening at school, at home, and amongst friends and family. Filmed and released in 1995, the film can be seen as a forerunner of the now-popular diary or vlog documentary format, featuring raw footage and voiceover from Don Bonus.

Although made in the 1990s, the beats of the film are familiar and still relevant, moving through issues of low-income housing, gang violence, academic struggle, and family fractures, while also featuring communal celebration, youthful camaraderie and intimate family life. These scenes are simultaneously casual and intentional, recontextualized and given resonance through Don Bonus’ frank, teenage monologic reflections.

A.K.A Don Bonus highlights how the stories that came before us, although constructed from their time and space, can continue to speak powerfully into our present.

– Jasmine Gui

Cast

Sokly Ny

Recognitions

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Berlin International Film Festival, 1996
San Francisco Film Festival, 1995

AWARDS
National Emmy Award, 1996
Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival, 1995

Director Bio

Spencer Nakasako

Spencer Nakasako has over three decades of experience as an independent filmmaker and is the founder of the groundbreaking Media Lab at the Vietnamese Youth Development Center in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Nakasako is a member of the Writers Guild of America, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am

to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm

REGISTER FOR FREE TICKET

Sponsor

Live online Masterclass with director Spencer Nakasako

Deep dive into narrative construction with director Spencer Nakasako & filmmaker Miko Revereza! ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services.

November 17, 2020 at 6:30PM

Arrow Link

You May Also Like...

Shorts Programme
Resurgence

Abundant with hope, desire, and resiliency, all six of these films make a statement to queer histories, presents, and futures—in front of and behind the screen. Includes National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020 winner SAFE AMONG STARS and winner of Change Connect Award, Reel Asian 2020 GOD'S DAUGHTER DANCES.

Features
I Do My Work

Students at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music gather for the start of the school day. They laugh, practice, and take tests while preparing for a concert celebrating 100 years of Afghanistan's independence. Ranging from five-year-olds to young adults, some are middle-class kids and others are orphans, and they come from Afghanistan's many ethnic groups.

Features
The Greatest Country in the World

A right-wing government controls Quebec, closing its borders and pushing immigrants to leave. Widower Hiên lives a meager life running a dépanneur. Enticed by his daughter Phuong’s move to Vietnam, Hiên makes arrangements to leave everything behind. But when a neighbourhood boy is left under the temporary care of Phuong’s aimless Quebecois boyfriend, Hiên is driven to solve the mystery of the boy’s missing mother.

Open Tickets Cart