Tony bui in three seasons: his beginning, his time of discoveries, and his lifelong legacy

Written by: Milla Nguyen + Photography by: Julian Valgora

Tony Bui’s Biography:

Tony Bui is an esteemed Vietnamese American filmmaker, artist, and Artist-in-Residence and professor at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute and School of the Arts. He had also taught as a professor at Loyola Marymount University and Fulbright University Vietnam. Tony Bui graduated from the film production undergraduate program at LMU, where he wrote, directed, and produced his award-winning short film, Yellow Lotus. He then went on to write and direct his feature film, Three Seasons, which also won the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award, Grand Jury Prize, and Best Cinematography award. This cemented his title as the first Vietnamese filmmaker to win the hearts of Sundance audiences. Tony was a recipient of the Humanitas Prize and an alumnus of the Sundance Institute's Screenwriting and Directing Labs. He has written and developed projects for HBO, Warner Bros., and NBC.

Author's Note:

I had the most remarkable opportunity to interview Tony Bui while in New York City. It is an honor to highlight Tony Bui as the cover star of Allusion Magazine's first issue and one of our Vicarious Column headliners. This article not only scratches the surface of Tony's many accomplishments but also reflects his fluid evolution: starting at ground zero, then evolving to a blossoming career, and winning some of the most prestigious awards in the filmmaking industry. Through it all, Tony Bui is a humble man of a few words, but it's because his words carry the heaviest of weight. At this point in time, Asian American filmmakers have received far more recognition and praise than they have in any other decade. Films such as Crazy Rich Asians, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, and Parasite have broken records regarding East Asian diversity and entertainment. However, Tony Bui is a pioneer who paved the way and is still committed to continuing this work.

I know Tony Bui as a respected filmmaker, but I also know him personally. The article is not enough to describe how impactful his work has been for young Vietnamese and Asian filmmakers in the space. During the Vietnamese Film Festival Gala (2024), he was honored with the Legacy Award. During his speech, he said, "Filmmaking was a difficult career to pick. It was hard. It was confusing. There was no formula to follow. But the important thing to remember is that cultivating the next generation of filmmakers is a way to carry on what we built. I'd like to acknowledge my community for that." Even though Tony accepted the award for his work, he made sure to acknowledge friends, family, and the support of his community. He emphasized that working together is what creates a long-lasting legacy.

The Beginning:

Tony Bui grew up in Northern California and did not know he wanted to be a filmmaker at first. Many of his friends wanted jobs in the tech world. His parents were Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the United States and later opened video stores in California. Through these nostalgic memories, Bui recalled watching films, sorting VHS tapes, and speaking to customers about different filmmakers. It is here where his connection and love for cinema began. His parents told him that being a filmmaker was an unstable career and something that others did, not Vietnamese refugees. They feared he wouldn't succeed. At the time, there were no Vietnamese filmmakers to point to as an example of a way forward. Still, this didn’t stop him. Tony Bui, a bright-eyed young man burning with a passion for filmmaking, went on a sunny drive with his father, a stoic military man who showed deep concern for his son's dreams. He told his father, "I would rather be a poor artist over a wealthy doctor. I want to create. I want to be a storyteller." His father didn't say one word on the drive back home. When they entered the house, his father turned to him and said, "Okay. I'll let you go to film school. Let's see how you do." This is when Tony Bui's journey began. He was accepted into many top film schools but ultimately decided on Loyola Marymount University. Day and night, he immersed himself in studying the craft and how it can access his own emotions and connect with people's deep emotions.

A Time of Discoveries:

A memory close to his heart was when he traveled to Vietnam for the first time to visit relatives he had never known. Bui was nineteen years old, barely a full-fledged adult. However, the trip changed his perspective immensely. He said, "In American media, I never saw anyone who looked like me. No one." He didn't know how much that affected his psyche and made him believe his own stories didn’t matter. When he passed through bookstores in Vietnam, the magazine covers featured Vietnamese people. Billboards and posters had Vietnamese faces. The theaters all had Vietnamese performers. This kind of representation had a profound impact on him. When he returned home, he wanted to tell more stories about people who looked like him. Further, everything he knew about the Vietnam War was from American Vietnam War movies. He said, “Most Americans' connection to Vietnam is through war. And the Vietnamese people were always portrayed as the enemy. We were always shown as savages or running through the jungle waiting to be shot at. We were never the heroes of any of these stories.” This led him to teach a class at Columbia University called The Vietnam War in American and Vietnamese Cinema to highlight both voices.

After the initial visit, Vietnam kept pulling him back, and he would find every chance he could to go. He kept journals and filled endless pages with thoughts and discoveries he had experienced on these trips. The journeys were both outward and inward as he discovered as much about himself as he did about the country. This led to his undergraduate LMU thesis film, Yellow Lotus, which focused on the immense economic and social changes in post-war Vietnam at the time. He then returned to Saigon to shoot it. Bui recalled, "Being at LMU was a significant four years of my life. I ate, drank, and breathed cinema and storytelling. LMU wasn't as well-known as the other schools so they were the underdogs. I liked that. Because they were under the radar, LMU allowed students to make films how they wanted to and encouraged location shooting. Even international filmmaking was possible. This was rare for American film schools at the time. Yellow Lotus would’ve never happened if I wasn’t studying film at LMU."

During the lead-up to his film Three Seasons, Vietnam was constantly changing: from a war-torn country to a country of healing. Later, the United States and Vietnam renewed diplomatic relations and trade which led to rapid westernization of the country. This became the central theme of Three Seasons. He elaborated, “Buildings and hotels started to rise in the city. The higher the buildings the longer the shadows they cast. Three Seasons was about the people who were stuck living in these lengthening shadows.” He discussed his journey developing the film through the Sundance Labs and remembered when it won major awards at the festival. Back then, it was hard to find another Asian filmmaker in the room. This year, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the festival. Three Seasons was chosen as one of ten films over the four decades to be returned for an encore screening as part of the festival’s anniversary celebrations. He was able to showcase the newly restored 4K version of the film, which had, up to this point, mainly only existed on celluloid as it was never properly digitized. He was also invited to speak on two panels at the Sunrise Collective, a new group and space at Sundance designed to support Asian filmmakers. This was drastically different from the past when there were so few Asians at Sundance that you couldn’t even fill a room. Now, Asian filmmakers have their own space to gather.

Simultaneously, Bui teaches at Columbia University. I asked him about the difference between his experiences as a film student and a film professor. He said, "I want to acknowledge the power and impact of teaching through a junior high teacher who changed my life, Mr. Curtis Schneider. He broadened my thinking and showed me there was so much to see and do outside of my immediate world. Without him, I wouldn't have learned early on that it was okay to look further and discover new ideas and passions. I wouldn’t have had the courage to be a filmmaker." Bui also spoke of his cinematography mentor, Ian Connor, an LMU professor. He said, "Ian Connor was, without a doubt, the most inspiring film professor on campus and gave me the confidence to go to Vietnam and shoot. He told me to go out into the world and to not be afraid of discovering new ideas, places, and locations." He discussed the filmmaking process and the emergence of non-linear editing. Ian Connor taught Bui different editing and filmmaking techniques and ways to see storytelling differently. He was the classic mad but brilliant professor. He prioritized personal storytelling and passion over following what others had done.

Bui also served on the board of Film Independent for many years and helped mentor young filmmakers. He also taught at Fulbright University Vietnam as a Visiting Scholar and guest lecturer. He said that teaching allows him to share knowledge with his students, discover new ideas and concepts, as well as strengthen them within himself.

A Lifelong Legacy:

Tony Bui is currently working on a variety of projects. A critical mission of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and Columbia University is the legacy of the Vietnam War. The 50th Anniversary of the war’s end is in April 2025. He recently gave a speech on campus titled "War Trauma, Transformation, and Healing" at a hosted event. He brought Kim Phuc, the subject of the infamous “Napalm Girl” photo, to speak at the event. He also invited Nick Ut, the Pulitzer prize-winning photographer, to discuss his momentous “Napalm Girl” photograph. The institute prides itself on supporting the research of Asian studies, including media and literary works. Asian Scholars recently celebrated Columbia's legacy of establishing international relations with world leaders. Asian government leaders and delegations often travel to campus to visit the institute. Vice versa, Columbia's scholars travel to Asia for research and to further relationships. In a broader sense, Bui collaborated with the institute this year to create a series of talks titled Conversations in Storytelling: Regional Voices, Global Impact. Over the summer, he traveled to Hanoi, Saigon, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Beijing to host and moderate discussions with prominent filmmakers on the importance of regional storytelling in a more globally connected world. His central theme for these talks was: "How can we use regional storytelling to build bridges and foster greater understanding between vastly different communities?"

More recently, the General Secretary and President of Vietnam visited Columbia, the first time in history that the Vietnam leader spoke at an American university. Tony Bui led a cultural event called Unity Through Art for this historic visit as Artistic Director. Bui brought prominent American and Vietnamese musicians, poets, artists, and dancers together for a cultural celebration. With the politics of Vietnam and the United States being sensitive, he wanted to emphasize that the future is bright and that despite a complicated history, a path to healing is a path to growth.

Now, he's working on his next feature film based on the iconic “Napalm Girl” photo. I picked his brain about his own feelings toward American media and shaping Vietnamese stories today. With the recent release of HBO / A24's The Sympathizer, the show received mixed reviews and commentary due in part to the politics of the Vietnam War. Bui said that war is complex and that each filmmaker should discover their own point of view. In the past, Vietnamese characters were often portrayed as caricatures and spoke gibberish in place of real Vietnamese. Since the nineteenth century, many Asian characters have been portrayed as sub-human. Cutting through this, Tony Bui explained that filmmaking is difficult and expensive. Vietnamese representation is always a work-in-progress and we should each do our part to improve it. It is the responsibility of all filmmakers to be as authentic as possible. It's important to criticize films and be supportive when we can; no work can truly be perfect.

Finally, I asked if he had anyone he would like to thank who supported his filmmaking. He wants to thank his parents, who sacrificed their lives to give him and his siblings a better future. He said, “It’s easy to forget how difficult it was to move to a new country, learn a new language, and start completely over. It's a testament to their strength and love.” He is grateful they allowed him to attend film school and pursue his dreams. As he mentioned before, Curtis Schneider and Ian Connor are two teachers who changed his life. He would also like to acknowledge Michelle Satter, the founding senior director of the Sundance Institute. He recalled being only twenty-two and getting the call from Michelle, known for hand-picking upcoming first-time filmmakers and turning them into superstars. Due to being a late entry, he missed the Sundance Labs deadlines. However, she was moved by his short film, Yellow Lotus and his screenplay for Three Seasons. She invited him to join the labs afterward. He said, "Michelle Satter is the most selfless, kind, and giving person in the industry I know. She changed not only my career but also my life forever. Her impact on the independent film world cannot be overstated and will continue for a long time.”