Thấu Hiểu
New York City, New York | Film Short
Experimental, Music
Thấu Hiểu is a visual and sonic meditation on legacy, reimagining my Vietnamese grandfather’s paintings through dance, projections, and generative 3D visuals. Each scene unfolds like a living canvas, bridging tradition and reinvention through movement, memory, and the Vietnamese diasporic experience
Thấu Hiểu
New York City, New York | Film Short
Experimental, Music
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $8,000 for production phase 2. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
36 supporters | followers
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Thấu Hiểu is a visual and sonic meditation on legacy, reimagining my Vietnamese grandfather’s paintings through dance, projections, and generative 3D visuals. Each scene unfolds like a living canvas, bridging tradition and reinvention through movement, memory, and the Vietnamese diasporic experience
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
MISSION STATEMENT
My mission is to tell tender, visually-driven stories that honor cultural memory, emotional inheritance, and the quiet power of intergenerational connection. Through photography, film, and community projects, I aim to create spaces—both physical and cinematic—where heritage is not just preserved, but reimagined. I believe in building with care, centering Southeast Asian voices, and using art as a vessel for understanding what cannot always be said aloud.
THE STORY
Thấu Hiểu began as my thesis project at Parsons—an exploration of memory, movement, and inherited artistry. But over time, it’s grown into something far more personal: a short film that honors the quiet influence of my grandfather, Lương Trường Thọ, and the legacy he left behind.
My grandfather was a painter, and we were deeply close. His abstract works, full of color, mystery, and emotion, shaped how I experience the world. His spirit lives in the way I frame light, the way I hold silence, and the way I create. As I build my own artistic world, I find myself constantly returning to his—curious about what he carried, what he held back, and what he passed on without saying a word.
This film is a reflection of that invisible thread between us. A visual and sonic meditation on legacy, Thấu Hiểu reimagines his paintings as immersive, living landscapes—using dance, generative 3D visuals, and original music inspired by his own compositions. It’s a dialogue between generations, between tradition and reinvention, between the world he built and the one I’m still creating.
In Vietnamese, Thấu Hiểu means “to deeply understand.” This project is my way of reaching for that understanding—not just of him, but of myself and of what it means to be Vietnamese in the diaspora. It is a quiet offering, a thank you, and a bridge between the past and the future.
Why Me:
I’m a Vietnamese-American photographer and director whose work has always centered around memory, emotion, and the stories we carry in silence. Thấu Hiểu is deeply personal—it’s rooted in my relationship with my late grandfather, whose abstract paintings and quiet presence shaped my understanding of art, legacy, and love. This film is how I speak back to him. It’s how I bridge the gap between generations, between what was left unsaid and what still lives in me.
Why This Story:
Thấu Hiểu is a story about understanding without words—about the ways our families teach us, even in their absence. It blends movement, digital art, and sound to explore the Vietnamese diaspora experience through a lens that’s poetic, not didactic. There are so few experimental, emotionally-driven films centered on Southeast Asian identity, and even fewer made by young Vietnamese-American women. This story expands the language of how we talk about grief, inheritance, and intimacy within our communities.
We’re at a moment where there’s increasing visibility for Asian American voices, but we still lack representation in experimental film spaces—especially when it comes to emotionally complex, intergenerational work that doesn’t rely on tropes or trauma as spectacle. Thấu Hiểu is already half-complete, but we need support to finish it. The momentum is here: I have the team, the vision, the space, and the platform to carry this through. With your help, we can finish the final shoot in June and submit the film to festivals by the fall.
- This isn’t just a film—it’s a living archive of emotion, memory, and art passed down. The time to tell it is now.
Why Now:
We’re at a moment where there’s increasing visibility for Asian American voices, but we still lack representation in experimental film spaces—especially when it comes to emotionally complex, intergenerational work that doesn’t rely on tropes or trauma as spectacle. Thấu Hiểu is already half-complete, but we need support to finish it. The momentum is here: I have the team, the vision, the space, and the platform to carry this through. With your help, we can finish the final shoot in June and submit the film to festivals by the fall.
This isn’t just a film—it’s a living archive of emotion, memory, and art passed down. The time to tell it is now.
Production Timeline for Thấu Hiểu
This film began as my senior thesis at Parsons, where I shot the first half of Thấu Hiểu in early 2024 as part of a three-channel video installation. Since then, I’ve been reworking the concept into a single-channel short film to bring it to a wider audience.
- Phase 1 (Completed):
- Initial concept development, casting, and first round of filming completed during my thesis year.
- Phase 2 (June 2025):
- We plan to shoot the remaining scenes over two key production days in mid-June, building on the original footage and refining the visual narrative.
- Phase 3 (July–August 2025):
- Post-production, including editing, visual effects, sound design, and color grading. The goal is to have the final cut completed by August 2025.
CALL TO ACTION <3
Our full fundraising goal is $8,000, but we need to raise at least $6,000 to greenlight the project. This covers location rentals, lighting, equipment, wardrobe, post-production, and paying our team fairly. Every contribution—no matter the amount—helps us get one step closer to making this film real.
We’re also hosting Heirloom Sessions, a series of fundraising pop-ups in NYC and LA, featuring Vietnamese coffee, live music, and community art to support the film and celebrate our shared stories.
If you can donate, share the campaign, or show up in person—thank you. Your support means everything. <3
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and Equipment Rentals
Costs $1,500
Help us rent the proper equipment for crew!
Feed Us <3
Costs $500
Making art is hungry work. This budget helps keep our small cast and crew nourished and energized during shoot days
Wardrobe!
Costs $750
Wardrobe plays a quiet but powerful role in Thấu Hiểu—from the elegance of the Ao Dài to contemporary looks that hold traces of memory and i
HMUA - Hair and Makeup
Costs $600
Beauty is a big part of this project. Help us pay our artists!
Post-Production
Costs $1,000
This covers editing, VFX, and music—bringing together sound, movement, and color to complete the emotional world of Thấu Hiểu.
Location Rental
Costs $1,650
This covers the cost of securing thoughtful, quiet spaces that reflect the mood and intimacy of Thấu Hiểu, and give our team room to create
Performers / Crew
Costs $2,000
This budget supports the incredible performers and collaborators helping bring Thấu Hiểu to life
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Share this update!
About This Team
Vivian Chan (she/her), Director: Vivian Chan is a Vietnamese-American photographer and director based in New York and Los Angeles. Her work blends documentary, fashion, and experimental forms to explore intimacy, memory, and cultural inheritance. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Vivian is known for her thoughtful approach to visual storytelling—often drawing from her own family history to create work that is both deeply personal and broadly resonant.
Thấu Hiểu is her directorial debut short film, rooted in the abstract paintings and music of her late grandfather. Through movement, color, and digital techniques, the film meditates on intergenerational connection and the unspoken languages we inherit.
Outside of film, Vivian runs Heirloom, a multidisciplinary pop-up café project that builds community through art, food, and storytelling.
Imani Marasigan (he/him), Director of Photography: Imani Marasigan is a Filipino-American director, cinematographer, and multimedia artist based in the San Gabriel Valley. With a deeply rooted passion for collaborating with musicians, artists, and athletes, he enjoys bringing diverse creative visions to life across his projects. His work is driven from a love of documenting the raw, intimate, and fleeting moments of time, with a goal to inspire and connect communities in the SGV.
Joey Quian (she/her), Editor: is Chinese-American video editor and multidisciplinary artist obsessed with tomatoes, clowns, and cats. She’s always cooking, whether it’s in the kitchen, within her mind, or through creative outlets. Her dream is to use her creative skills to support and educate others, encouraging them to pursue the arts fearlessly. Much like your favorite bowl of soup, she’s here to offer warmth, comfort, and the confidence to chase your dreams.
Joseph "JP" Padpad (he/him), Producer: Joseph, also known as JP or Joseph Perspective, is a Producer, Costume Designer, Wardrobe Stylist, Director, and the Founder of Just Perspective™. He currently is based in Los Angeles, California. JP spends most of his time working on-set, surfing at the beach, biking around DTLA, and snowboarding in the mountains. His passions stem from his love for photography, fashion, film, select subcultures, and the various art movements of the future/past. Joseph Perspective is a storyteller, human, son, activist, brother, artist, and friend before anything. He looks to continuously help others bring their visions and perspectives into the world. He believes sharing perspectives and stories is what helps the world go round, and ultimately causes the changes we dream of.
Micah Wong (she/her, they,them), Movement Director: Micah is a trans Filipino and Chinese American artist based in New York. Primarily engaging in weaving, fashion design, and dance as mediums, she embraces freedom and reimagines de-colonized futures within her work. Micah built her foundations of dance in Southern California, dancing competitively on companies such as GRV and VMO. She now embraces radical free movement, and uses dance and performance as a means to communicate and embody her work on a deeper level.
Matthew ‘Eros’ Lee (he/him),, VFX: Matthew ‘Eros’ Lee is a multi-faceted Chinese-Vietnamese American director specializing in Art direction, Video/Photo direction and digital visual arts. He is invested in culture and enjoys collaboration at every level. Spontaneous by nature, he heavily uses those experiences to inspire him, often evoking the rawest emotions from source. Big on #swag and #art and #friends, he hopes to architect a world where he can do this for the rest of his life.
Thao Vy (she/her), Stylist: Thao Vy has been a collector of beautiful materialisms since her youth and pours her ever growing interests into styling experimentations. Fun textures, odd silhouettes, unconventional dichotomies; it's about the beauties of what is unexpected and how they play a part in creating a holistic vision for the art she believes resonates with her.
Marlon Blair (he/him), Composer: I am a percussionist who performed with many competitive assembles such as the Sacramento Mandarins, the Concord Blue Devils, and Pulse Percussion. I found myself writing music at a young age and began taking it seriously after many years of observing and performing under many renowned composers/arrangers. Writing music is an environment where I can truly feel content. I hope to provide that same feeling for others along the way.
+ MANY MORE
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
MISSION STATEMENT
My mission is to tell tender, visually-driven stories that honor cultural memory, emotional inheritance, and the quiet power of intergenerational connection. Through photography, film, and community projects, I aim to create spaces—both physical and cinematic—where heritage is not just preserved, but reimagined. I believe in building with care, centering Southeast Asian voices, and using art as a vessel for understanding what cannot always be said aloud.
THE STORY
Thấu Hiểu began as my thesis project at Parsons—an exploration of memory, movement, and inherited artistry. But over time, it’s grown into something far more personal: a short film that honors the quiet influence of my grandfather, Lương Trường Thọ, and the legacy he left behind.
My grandfather was a painter, and we were deeply close. His abstract works, full of color, mystery, and emotion, shaped how I experience the world. His spirit lives in the way I frame light, the way I hold silence, and the way I create. As I build my own artistic world, I find myself constantly returning to his—curious about what he carried, what he held back, and what he passed on without saying a word.
This film is a reflection of that invisible thread between us. A visual and sonic meditation on legacy, Thấu Hiểu reimagines his paintings as immersive, living landscapes—using dance, generative 3D visuals, and original music inspired by his own compositions. It’s a dialogue between generations, between tradition and reinvention, between the world he built and the one I’m still creating.
In Vietnamese, Thấu Hiểu means “to deeply understand.” This project is my way of reaching for that understanding—not just of him, but of myself and of what it means to be Vietnamese in the diaspora. It is a quiet offering, a thank you, and a bridge between the past and the future.
Why Me:
I’m a Vietnamese-American photographer and director whose work has always centered around memory, emotion, and the stories we carry in silence. Thấu Hiểu is deeply personal—it’s rooted in my relationship with my late grandfather, whose abstract paintings and quiet presence shaped my understanding of art, legacy, and love. This film is how I speak back to him. It’s how I bridge the gap between generations, between what was left unsaid and what still lives in me.
Why This Story:
Thấu Hiểu is a story about understanding without words—about the ways our families teach us, even in their absence. It blends movement, digital art, and sound to explore the Vietnamese diaspora experience through a lens that’s poetic, not didactic. There are so few experimental, emotionally-driven films centered on Southeast Asian identity, and even fewer made by young Vietnamese-American women. This story expands the language of how we talk about grief, inheritance, and intimacy within our communities.
We’re at a moment where there’s increasing visibility for Asian American voices, but we still lack representation in experimental film spaces—especially when it comes to emotionally complex, intergenerational work that doesn’t rely on tropes or trauma as spectacle. Thấu Hiểu is already half-complete, but we need support to finish it. The momentum is here: I have the team, the vision, the space, and the platform to carry this through. With your help, we can finish the final shoot in June and submit the film to festivals by the fall.
- This isn’t just a film—it’s a living archive of emotion, memory, and art passed down. The time to tell it is now.
Why Now:
We’re at a moment where there’s increasing visibility for Asian American voices, but we still lack representation in experimental film spaces—especially when it comes to emotionally complex, intergenerational work that doesn’t rely on tropes or trauma as spectacle. Thấu Hiểu is already half-complete, but we need support to finish it. The momentum is here: I have the team, the vision, the space, and the platform to carry this through. With your help, we can finish the final shoot in June and submit the film to festivals by the fall.
This isn’t just a film—it’s a living archive of emotion, memory, and art passed down. The time to tell it is now.
Production Timeline for Thấu Hiểu
This film began as my senior thesis at Parsons, where I shot the first half of Thấu Hiểu in early 2024 as part of a three-channel video installation. Since then, I’ve been reworking the concept into a single-channel short film to bring it to a wider audience.
- Phase 1 (Completed):
- Initial concept development, casting, and first round of filming completed during my thesis year.
- Phase 2 (June 2025):
- We plan to shoot the remaining scenes over two key production days in mid-June, building on the original footage and refining the visual narrative.
- Phase 3 (July–August 2025):
- Post-production, including editing, visual effects, sound design, and color grading. The goal is to have the final cut completed by August 2025.
CALL TO ACTION <3
Our full fundraising goal is $8,000, but we need to raise at least $6,000 to greenlight the project. This covers location rentals, lighting, equipment, wardrobe, post-production, and paying our team fairly. Every contribution—no matter the amount—helps us get one step closer to making this film real.
We’re also hosting Heirloom Sessions, a series of fundraising pop-ups in NYC and LA, featuring Vietnamese coffee, live music, and community art to support the film and celebrate our shared stories.
If you can donate, share the campaign, or show up in person—thank you. Your support means everything. <3
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and Equipment Rentals
Costs $1,500
Help us rent the proper equipment for crew!
Feed Us <3
Costs $500
Making art is hungry work. This budget helps keep our small cast and crew nourished and energized during shoot days
Wardrobe!
Costs $750
Wardrobe plays a quiet but powerful role in Thấu Hiểu—from the elegance of the Ao Dài to contemporary looks that hold traces of memory and i
HMUA - Hair and Makeup
Costs $600
Beauty is a big part of this project. Help us pay our artists!
Post-Production
Costs $1,000
This covers editing, VFX, and music—bringing together sound, movement, and color to complete the emotional world of Thấu Hiểu.
Location Rental
Costs $1,650
This covers the cost of securing thoughtful, quiet spaces that reflect the mood and intimacy of Thấu Hiểu, and give our team room to create
Performers / Crew
Costs $2,000
This budget supports the incredible performers and collaborators helping bring Thấu Hiểu to life
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Share this update!
About This Team
Vivian Chan (she/her), Director: Vivian Chan is a Vietnamese-American photographer and director based in New York and Los Angeles. Her work blends documentary, fashion, and experimental forms to explore intimacy, memory, and cultural inheritance. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Vivian is known for her thoughtful approach to visual storytelling—often drawing from her own family history to create work that is both deeply personal and broadly resonant.
Thấu Hiểu is her directorial debut short film, rooted in the abstract paintings and music of her late grandfather. Through movement, color, and digital techniques, the film meditates on intergenerational connection and the unspoken languages we inherit.
Outside of film, Vivian runs Heirloom, a multidisciplinary pop-up café project that builds community through art, food, and storytelling.
Imani Marasigan (he/him), Director of Photography: Imani Marasigan is a Filipino-American director, cinematographer, and multimedia artist based in the San Gabriel Valley. With a deeply rooted passion for collaborating with musicians, artists, and athletes, he enjoys bringing diverse creative visions to life across his projects. His work is driven from a love of documenting the raw, intimate, and fleeting moments of time, with a goal to inspire and connect communities in the SGV.
Joey Quian (she/her), Editor: is Chinese-American video editor and multidisciplinary artist obsessed with tomatoes, clowns, and cats. She’s always cooking, whether it’s in the kitchen, within her mind, or through creative outlets. Her dream is to use her creative skills to support and educate others, encouraging them to pursue the arts fearlessly. Much like your favorite bowl of soup, she’s here to offer warmth, comfort, and the confidence to chase your dreams.
Joseph "JP" Padpad (he/him), Producer: Joseph, also known as JP or Joseph Perspective, is a Producer, Costume Designer, Wardrobe Stylist, Director, and the Founder of Just Perspective™. He currently is based in Los Angeles, California. JP spends most of his time working on-set, surfing at the beach, biking around DTLA, and snowboarding in the mountains. His passions stem from his love for photography, fashion, film, select subcultures, and the various art movements of the future/past. Joseph Perspective is a storyteller, human, son, activist, brother, artist, and friend before anything. He looks to continuously help others bring their visions and perspectives into the world. He believes sharing perspectives and stories is what helps the world go round, and ultimately causes the changes we dream of.
Micah Wong (she/her, they,them), Movement Director: Micah is a trans Filipino and Chinese American artist based in New York. Primarily engaging in weaving, fashion design, and dance as mediums, she embraces freedom and reimagines de-colonized futures within her work. Micah built her foundations of dance in Southern California, dancing competitively on companies such as GRV and VMO. She now embraces radical free movement, and uses dance and performance as a means to communicate and embody her work on a deeper level.
Matthew ‘Eros’ Lee (he/him),, VFX: Matthew ‘Eros’ Lee is a multi-faceted Chinese-Vietnamese American director specializing in Art direction, Video/Photo direction and digital visual arts. He is invested in culture and enjoys collaboration at every level. Spontaneous by nature, he heavily uses those experiences to inspire him, often evoking the rawest emotions from source. Big on #swag and #art and #friends, he hopes to architect a world where he can do this for the rest of his life.
Thao Vy (she/her), Stylist: Thao Vy has been a collector of beautiful materialisms since her youth and pours her ever growing interests into styling experimentations. Fun textures, odd silhouettes, unconventional dichotomies; it's about the beauties of what is unexpected and how they play a part in creating a holistic vision for the art she believes resonates with her.
Marlon Blair (he/him), Composer: I am a percussionist who performed with many competitive assembles such as the Sacramento Mandarins, the Concord Blue Devils, and Pulse Percussion. I found myself writing music at a young age and began taking it seriously after many years of observing and performing under many renowned composers/arrangers. Writing music is an environment where I can truly feel content. I hope to provide that same feeling for others along the way.
+ MANY MORE