Give as a gift
This short film set contains strong language and thematic material including death, grief, and suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.
The proof of a life lived in full or continuing to do so lies within the memory and act of recollection. The moments we get to sit down and reflect on ourselves can be specific and arbitrary all at once. The more one reminisces, the more they realize how these memories shaped and informed who they are, their personhood. Still, what’s in a memory? What is worth remembering? How and why should one remember? These are the questions in which this series of short films aims to answer.
To begin our journey down memory lane, Grandma’s Four Color Cards offers us insight on what it means to remember someone and take care of them as the years go by. As we go along, Happy Thoughts reflect and ruminate on life and death, on the present and the future as the heart and mind grow weary of things they cannot control. To transition into the second half of this set, with a more experimental approach, Goodbye and Hello to My Dad is a remembrance and lingering of a loved one. Finally, 100 Days invite us to consider the efforts of grief and memory as they work in tandem to bring us closer to each other better than before.
“Don’t Forget to Remember Me” shares a deeply personal and thoughtful perspective on why we should remember to reconcile with the past, embrace the present, and look forward to the future.
By Katy Nguyen
Happy Thoughts follows an 18-year-old Vietnamese American, who is already a three-time state speech champion, as he enters his last National tournament with everything on the line. But when unexpected tragedy strikes, his world shatters. Grappling with grief, silence, and the weight of expectation, he must summon the courage to face not just the stage, but his own family’s unspoken pain. What begins as a quest for a final trophy transforms into a raw, urgent fight to find his voice.
- Year2026
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Vietnamese
- CountryUnited States
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorTommy Tran Pepper
- ScreenwriterTommy Tran Pepper
- ProducerAnnalise Lee, Tommy Tran Pepper
- CastWilliam Pepper, Liam Koko, Tammy Luu, Nayantara Nair
This short film set contains strong language and thematic material including death, grief, and suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.
The proof of a life lived in full or continuing to do so lies within the memory and act of recollection. The moments we get to sit down and reflect on ourselves can be specific and arbitrary all at once. The more one reminisces, the more they realize how these memories shaped and informed who they are, their personhood. Still, what’s in a memory? What is worth remembering? How and why should one remember? These are the questions in which this series of short films aims to answer.
To begin our journey down memory lane, Grandma’s Four Color Cards offers us insight on what it means to remember someone and take care of them as the years go by. As we go along, Happy Thoughts reflect and ruminate on life and death, on the present and the future as the heart and mind grow weary of things they cannot control. To transition into the second half of this set, with a more experimental approach, Goodbye and Hello to My Dad is a remembrance and lingering of a loved one. Finally, 100 Days invite us to consider the efforts of grief and memory as they work in tandem to bring us closer to each other better than before.
“Don’t Forget to Remember Me” shares a deeply personal and thoughtful perspective on why we should remember to reconcile with the past, embrace the present, and look forward to the future.
By Katy Nguyen
Happy Thoughts follows an 18-year-old Vietnamese American, who is already a three-time state speech champion, as he enters his last National tournament with everything on the line. But when unexpected tragedy strikes, his world shatters. Grappling with grief, silence, and the weight of expectation, he must summon the courage to face not just the stage, but his own family’s unspoken pain. What begins as a quest for a final trophy transforms into a raw, urgent fight to find his voice.
- Year2026
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Vietnamese
- CountryUnited States
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorTommy Tran Pepper
- ScreenwriterTommy Tran Pepper
- ProducerAnnalise Lee, Tommy Tran Pepper
- CastWilliam Pepper, Liam Koko, Tammy Luu, Nayantara Nair