Private Project

Thơ

As Thơ ventures into romance as a Vietnamese-American panromantic asexual/ace, her boyfriend Dylan pressures her to be both sexual and straight, insisting that sex is love and that he’s worthless without it.

When she begins a new relationship with the more emotionally-detached Leo, she once again finds her asexuality to be an issue for her partner. But this time, Leo sees her asexuality as an obstacle to fulfilling her purpose as a woman.

Questioning whether she's actually who she thinks she is, Thơ is forced to be valued by them or fight for herself.

  • Jake Villadolid
    Director
    Where We Grew, Breaking Ground
  • Heather Muriel Nguyễn
    Director
  • Heather Muriel Nguyễn
    Writer
  • Heather Muriel Nguyễn
    Producer
  • Jake Villadolid
    Producer
  • Linda Wong
    Producer
  • Heather Muriel Nguyễn
    Key Cast
    "Thơ"
    Happy Birthday You Made It, Sound of Violence, Breaking Ground
  • Zedakiah Koterba
    Key Cast
    "Dylan"
    Cranberry Nights
  • Malik Tyler
    Key Cast
    "Leo"
    Cuffed
  • Michelle Mao
    Key Cast
    "Cerise"
    @theinternet
  • Katherine Dudley
    Director of Photography
    LoverGirl, Residual, I Will Haunt You
  • Heather Muriel Nguyễn
    Editor
  • Pablo Langaine
    Music by
    Tuning In (Amazon Prime)
  • Marielle Cuccinelli
    Assistant Director
  • Jonathan Andre Culliton
    Line Producer
    Bombshell the Series, The Gay Mafia
  • Marcus Farrell
    Camera Operator
    The Fear, Dinner for Lemons!
  • Eliot Roach
    Assistant Camera
  • Eliot Roach
    DIT
  • Linda Wong
    Set Designer
  • Skye Wingo
    Key Grip
    Headlines
  • Kevin Bryan Simmons
    Gaffer
    Lion Killer
  • Colin McDonald
    Electric
  • Arjay Ancheta
    Electric
    Played Out
  • Robert Chuck
    Electric
    Voxgirl
  • Magely Martinez
    Boom Operator and Location Sound Mixer
    Rewind, Unspoken
  • Liz La Mura
    Intimacy Coordinator
    Rendezvous, Slice, Good Trouble, Swimming with Sharks
  • Naomi Shroff-Mehta
    Script Supervisor
    Love in a Parking Lot, Not that Bad
  • Colin McDonald
    Colorist
    Breaking Ground, Another Time, Once Upon A Time: Rock Opera, From the Woods
  • Christopher Weingart
    Assistant Editors
    Cigarette Daydreams, Merrick Carlysle Has A Problem
  • Sabrina Ashleigh Tan
    Assistant Editors
    Landmined
  • Jax Savage
    Sound Mixer
    Bombshell the Series, Arcadia
  • Yixia Li
    Motion Graphics Artist
  • Twi McCallum
    Sound Designer
  • AJ O'Connell
    Sound Engineer
    Mildreds Millions, Date Night
  • Juan Ramirez
    Title Design
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Teen Drama, LGBTQIA+, LGBTQ, Romance
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 27, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 16, 2021
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection in "Stand Up, Be Heard" Shorts Category
  • Outfest Los Angeles
    Los Angeles, CA
    August 20, 2021
    Theatrical Premiere
    Official Selection in "What A Girl Wants" Shorts Block
  • National Black Film Festival
    Houston, Texas
    United States
    May 28, 2021
    Winner: Best Short Film
  • WorldPride
    Copenhagen
    Denmark
    August 22, 2021
    Official Selection
  • aGLIFF Prism 34
    Austin, TX
    August 28, 2021
    Southwest Premiere
    Official Selection in "Finding Me" Shorts Block
  • Cinema Diverse
    Palm Springs, California
    United States
    September 18, 2021
    Festival Favorite and Official Selection in the "A Day in the Life" shorts block
  • Out On Film
    Atlanta, Georgia
    United States
    September 23, 2021
    Southeastern Premiere
    Official Selection in "Finding Your Voice" shorts block
  • Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest
    San Jose, California
    United States
    October 1, 2021
    Official Selection in the PG+ shorts block
  • Viet Film Fest
    Santa Ana, California
    United States
    October 18, 2021
    Official Selection in the "Coming Out, Coming Through" and "Urban Drift: Cold Nights & City Lights" shorts blocks
  • Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    United States
    November 14, 2021
    Official Selection and Pre-Screener before the Closing Night feature
  • Seattle Asian American Film Festival
    Seattle, Washington
    United States
    March 3, 2022
    Seattle Premiere
    Official Selection in the Queer AF Shorts Block
  • Seattle Queer Film Festival
    Seattle
    United States
    May 19, 2022
    Official Selection
  • CAAMFest40
    San Francisco, CA
    United States
    May 12, 2022
    San Francisco Premiere
    Official Selection in the Boundless Shorts Block
  • Eaton HK
    Hong Kong
    China
    June 12, 2022
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • OutMuseum (Outfest, Ace of Hearts Exhibit, Sept-Oct. 2022)
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Jake Villadolid, Heather Muriel Nguyễn

Heather Muriel Nguyễn (they/she) is a queer Vietnamese-American filmmaker who passionately tells visceral stories about queer and trans communities of Color grappling with intergenerational trauma and self-love. She's a 2020 Gemstone Studios (Sony) Rising Storytellers semifinalist. In collaboration, she brings emotional depth and hunger to honestly reflect her communities.

Jake Villadolid (he/him) is a young Filipino-American filmmaker who loves to tell stories off the beaten path. He has directed various short films and award-winning music videos, appearing in festivals across the country.

As a team, Jake and Heather create films that feature People of Color finding ways to rise above their challenges. THƠ serves as their first outing as a directorial pair, with several shorts currently in post.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Our film features the only asexual girl of Color in media so far, celebrating the existence of asexual and Queer Asian-Americans with unapologetic authenticity, to prove we deserve to tell our own powerful stories.

Too often, Asian-American femmes are hypersexualized and fetishized, provoking horrific and daily violence against us, but we’re not just victims or scenery for primarily white leads.

Instead, we demonstrate our deeply nuanced communities and histories through emotionally resonant stories for and by us. With this filmmaking mission, we hope THƠ inspires more AA-PI femmes and Queer folks to boldly share their own experiences.

THƠ (“tuh”) challenges the misconception of asexuality being something to be fixed, and reclaims it as a valid Queer identity, despite being misunderstood even within the LGBTQIA+ community as just a phase.

An emotional and visceral memoir, THƠ depicts how assumed consent and sexual entitlement to a person's body can dismantle their sense of reality. With evocative make-up, frenetic pacing, and non-linear storytelling, we exhibit the distinctive experience of taking on others’ emotional baggage through sexual harm.

We frame these consequences within the all-too-common experience of being misunderstood and betraying oneself to be accepted, in order to bring clarity to viewers potentially unfamiliar with asexuality and how it intersects with being an AA-PI femme.