Southeast Asia Culture

Magic Video Productions is a group of Southeast Asian refugee teens who assembled at NEWIST/CESA 7 ten to twenty hours a week to create video documentations and dramas that explore Hmong culture.

The First Day of School in America tells the story of Kou Yang, a Hmong boy who encounters difficulties as a new student in an American High School. He doesn't understand English or the teachers and becomes the target of teasing and disdain from his classmates because of his accent and cultural differences. $35, 50 minutes.

A Wedding is a drama about arranged marriages. Paiyeeb Xiong is an eighteen-year-old Hmong girl whose parents force her to marry a thirty-year-old doctor. Through a traditional Hmong marriage ceremony the two clans bond, and the young woman surrenders her dream of becoming a model. $35, 40 minutes.

After the War: A Family Album reveals why Southeast Asians are in the United States. In this oral-history documentary, Hmong and Vietnamese refugees in Green Bay, Wisconsin, recount their experiences of the Vietnam War. The producers hope that more Americans will understand the great sacrifice and heroism of many Southeast Asian refugees who assisted the United States during the war. $35, 40 minutes.

Down With Us explores the psychological reasons why a teenager joins a gang and the unfortunate realities that result. It is appropriate for gang-prevention programs and includes a facilitators' guide. Although Down With Us is about an Asian teen, the theme is universal and the story will be recognizable to all cultures concerned about gangs. Warning: The video contains realistic language and violence. $35, 50 minutes.

Color Blind gives voice to emotions and thoughts held by young people who are so often on the receiving end of bias and prejudice. Students talk about racial put-downs, public and police paranoia, cultural differences and advantages of being a minority. $35, 40 minutes.