Check Out Vy Nguyen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vy Nguyen.

Vy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Alright, hi! My name is Vy Nguyen, and I’m nineteen years old. I’m a Vietnamese filmmaker and photographer based in Kansas City, Missouri. I was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam until I was seven when I immigrated to the United States with my mother and younger sister.

Growing up in Vietnam, art piqued my curiosity at a young age. I remembered covering the walls of my family’s home with doodles and placing stickers on furniture. When I moved to America, I met my step-father and two step-siblings, so our household grew into six people. I don’t remember having a whole lot of toys then, but what I do remember was sharing an iPad between my three siblings and tinkering with my stepfather’s PC. When I was 9, I was exposed to the Internet where I discovered sites such as YouTube, Instagram, DeviantArt, and Wattpad, all of which allowed me to explore different creative routes over the years.

I first began filming YouTube videos showing off my outfits for the summer, then I was off creating a trailer for a series starring my Littlest Pet Shop toys. Instagram threw me into the vast universe of fandoms, and I found myself fawning over fictional characters and editing them into colorful backgrounds, thus igniting my passion for graphic design. Wattpad allowed me to explore graphic design as well as the ability to write my own stories, and that’s what I did. Meanwhile, I also spent my time binging Japanese cartoons and visiting the worlds of Studio Ghibli, Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, and many more. So, when I was off my electronics, I was drawing and painting these lively landscapes and characters with the hopes that one day, I might be able to create the such world.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I built an image of myself as a traditional artist who specializes in drawing and painting, and that identity played a huge role in what made me, me. I held an intense love for the activities, so I was really thrown into a loop when one day, I suddenly woke up and the first thought that popped into my mind was that I no longer loved drawing and painting. This happened when I was a freshman in high school. It was odd but since then, I couldn’t create draw, or paint without this empty feeling lingering like a cloud above me.

However, my identity as a traditional artist never quite left me, because I was an ambitious freshman who made sure she was the only freshman winning a Letterman letter in the art department, a quite difficult feat. On top of losing that intense love for drawing and painting, I was now dealing with an identity crisis and life was starting to feel dull without something that gets me up in the morning.

Then, in my sophomore year, I enrolled myself in an Introduction to Film class with the thought of “why not”. Nothing really clicked, but I liked the class and enrolled myself in an Advanced Film class the next year as an elective. At first, that empty feeling of loss still remained. I grew more anxious than ever and went as far as sitting in my counselor’s office and bawling my eyes out when I confessed to her about my worries about the future and how muddy it looked for someone like me. However, she calmly assured me and reminded me that most college students change their major at least three times which I felt relieved hearing.

With time, the empty feeling started to disperse, and I found myself wanting to improve as a filmmaker and enjoying how fun it was to tell stories through moving images. Just maybe, my future wasn’t looking so muddy after all.

In December of 2020, I eventually begged my parent’s grandparents to gift me a camera for Christmas and Tet, the New Year’s celebration in Vietnam where we received the money in red envelopes, hoping to combine the two holidays. I told them that if I had a camera, I’d be able to create films outside of class and start making YouTube videos again.

With the help of my parents, grandparents, and aunt, I was gifted my first camera in February of 2021, the magical Sony A6600, and it still is the camera I use for all of my projects.

I was able to explore photography mostly with the goal in mind of developing my skill as a cinematographer. My younger sister, Katie, has always been my muse and my go-to model. It wasn’t actually until May of 2022 that I received my first booking to take photos for other people instead of just conducting casual shoots with my sister and good friends. I was able to create the final for my senior year with my camera, and it landed at the All American High School Film Festival in New York.

Since then, I’ve been able to create a few short films for the fun of it before going into my first year of community college which kept me away from making films during the school year. However, as the Summer of 2022 rolled around, I’d been able to keep myself busy, creating a short film in June before leaving to visit Vietnam again after ten years. Now, my main goal is simply to balance putting myself out there as a filmmaker and photographer, writing in my spare time, working part-time, going to school, maintaining my relationships with family and friends, and taking care of myself.

Those are the experiences that have shaped me into the filmmaker and photographer that I am today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey as a filmmaker and photographer hasn’t always been a smooth road. Some of the main challenges included rebelling against my grandfather and struggling with my mental health.

Despite having enough support from my grandparents to receive my first camera from them, both my grandparents and especially my grandfather was not keen on the fact that I wanted to struggle for a bit as a small-town filmmaker. When we would converse, it would become repetitive of him instructing me to find a proper job, and being the teenager that I still am, I sometimes would feel incredibly frustrated and hurt despite knowing the root of his intentions.

Both my grandparents endured hardships during their childhood, and my parents work incredibly hard to raise four kids and an additional member in 2015. So, my grandparents are burdened with worries, and they simply do not want the same fate for us as them. A few years ago, this was difficult for me to understand.

As for my mom, I’m quite lucky because initially, my mom was not fully supportive of this journey. However, as I grow older, I notice that my relationship with her is starting to change. She’s proud of the work that I’ve created and at the end of the day, she wants to see me is to take care of myself while doing the thing that I love most.

Mental health-wise, I’d find myself in depressive slumps over the years. Sometimes, they’d last for days, weeks, months– who knows? Either way, being in one of those slumps, it becomes incredibly hard for me to do anything at all, let alone create art. In those times, I simply allow myself to rest and take a bit of break from photography and film, and just about anything really. I take it easy until I am fully prepared to start creating again.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My main work currently lies in editorial photography, but my real dream is to one day write and direct a feature film and be able to see it on the big screen. At this time, I feel that it’s definitely difficult to set yourself apart as an artist because the amount of resources artists have nowadays is greater than ever. You see younger people expressing themselves in a variety of ways and embodying a sort of artist. There are communities for artists and businesses are actively searching for artists.

So, I think what’s most important comes down to intentions. That’s what I try to convey through the work that I produce and especially within my passion projects. Through all of my short films, I’ve sunk my pockets more than I’ve received. By what I’ve received, I mean zero but I don’t mind it at all. Each and every film I’ve created has a special place in my heart. They share stories that are meaningful, stories of others and my own.

I’ve also learned a lot about myself through these films and eventually, I like to explore topics relating to family relationships, my identity as a bisexual Vietnamese woman, and simply the nature of what it’s like to be human– even the cheesy love stories, dramatic heartbreaks, mental health,– the funny, raw, and authentic dialogues.

What matters most to you?
I find this question of what matters to me most funny because I never really have an exact answer. Once the question is processed through my mind, there are five thoughts that pop up and they are followed by another five.

Then, I try to give an explanation for each of my answers, but the answer that always circulates back is seeing the people who I care about happy. I’m very fortunate to have a majority of the people in my life supporting the work that I create. Without them, I don’t think I would be where I am at the moment mentally.

That has to be my biggest motivator, and it’s to give back to my family, friends, and teachers who have encouraged me to pursue doing what I love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vyhnguyen.wixsite.com/portfolio
• Instagram: instagram.com/suburbancinema

Image Credits
Hayden Peters, Everett Wimberly, Quin Nofziger, Xavier Davis, Ngan Nguyen, Amari Childs, Sydney Siemens, Sydney Ciafullo, Caitlyn Rogers, and Delvin Nguyen