Running Dragon

Time: 20 minutes
Year: 2007
Website: http://www.runningdragonshort.com/

Please note that this film has mature themes and language.

About

Running Dragon is the third short film Kim Noonan has written and directed.  The film closely examines the impact that his Vietnamese heritage had on his adopted American upbringing.  It recently won the  Best Social Commentary award at the Poppy Jasper Film Festival and was one of three films chosen by the Vancouver Asian Film Festival for a panel discussion regarding Asian stereotypes and racism in the film and TV community.  Before undertaking Running Dragon, he took film courses at the cinema department at LACC (Los Angeles Community College) to educate himself about the technical aspects of filmmaking.  He is also a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has been in several plays and short films.  However, after years of struggling to distinguish himself for casting directors, he was encouraged by his friend and creative mentor, Deborah Theaker, to write and produce his own projects regarding his unusual but unique American upbringing.  As a result of her positive encouragement, he developed Running Dragon.  He is currently in the process of developing the feature for Running Dragon.  He resides in Echo Park, Los Angeles.

Synopsis

In 1972 near the end of the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese government were outcasting Ameriasian children while several U.S. families began to adopt them. Running Dragon is an autobiographical story about one of these American orphans, Joe Christmas (a.k.a. Lyn Phi Long or Running Dragon), and his biological Vietnamese sister, Hoa, who was separated from Joe during their adoption. 28 years later Joe discovers that Hoa has tracked him down and arranges for them to meet with her Vietnamese family in Little Saigon.

As the story unfolds we realize that Joe has never successfully fit in his with “All-American” family and community while growing up in America. And as a result of years of separation from his Vietnamese heritage, he also struggles to connect with Hoa’s adopted traditional Vietnamese family, making it all the more difficult for him to find acceptance in either world.

Trailer