Q&A: Minnesotan Doua Moua discusses making a film about a Hmong American family

With “The Harvest,” Doua Moua has created the first feature film to focus solely on a Hmong American family. Moua is an actor, writer and producer who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Hmong parents and grew up in St. Paul. He’s best known for his roles as “Spider” in “Gran Torino” with Clint Eastwood and “Po” in Disney’s live-action “Mulan.”

Directed by Caylee So, “The Harvest” is also the first film Moua has written, produced and starred in. It took him 11 years to get it to the screen, he says, partly because producers wanted to change the ethnicity of the family to Japanese, Black, Korean — basically anything but Hmong because it wasn’t as recognizable, as “marketable.”

Moua refused, saying erasing the Hmong community from the film “wouldn’t help push the needle forward” in terms of diversity and representation. So, with his production company Chiyou Entertainment, Moua decided to make the film himself. “The Harvest” will have its Minnesota debut at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) on April 15 and 16. Moua will be at the premiere and will host a Q&A after each screening.

Editor's note: This transcription has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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“The Harvest” is going to have its Minnesota premiere at MSPIFF? How are you feeling about that?

I'm feeling excited, but you know, it's coming to my hometown, so a little nervous, especially for the Hmong community able to see this film in Minnesota, which was initially supposed to take place in Minnesota, but we had to shift the location to California and Long Beach [due to complications from COVID].

So there's a lot of different factors and storylines and topics within the film that are still a taboo or unspoken conversation that the Hmong community is still hesitant to have, those open conversations. It's kind of nerve-wracking to be displaying this to a wider audience.

This is the film that I've written and produced and also starred in. So, it's nerve-wracking, because it's being a lead in a film. You hope people will resonate with your character, and also you hope people will say great things about your performance. It's all mixed feelings about this film coming back to Minnesota. Minnesota is the home where a lot of the mentors and artists helped nurture me as an actor and as a writer.

Tell us more about your Minnesota mentors.

There was a group in Minnesota called the Actor’s Lab. It was interesting that I was 15 or 16 and involved with a group of actors that ranged from 20 to 40s and 50s and 60s. They showed me how to be an actor, giving me all the tools to find castings or put me in their independent films or student films. One big factor for me was the teachers at my high school and middle school, the International School of Minnesota in Eden Prairie. Colleen Everett was my drama and choir teacher who nurtured and mentored me to be a better artist and actor. She saw this crazy Asian boy who wanted to be a performer and she really helped propel me to become who I am today.

Two people in car — A behind-the-scenes shot of Doua Moua and Chrisna Chhor as brother and sister Thai and Sue.
Courtesy of Doua Moua

Why did you want to tell this story?

The goal is to show the industry and show the audience and the vast community that there are more stories from different Asian communities than just the top four [Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese]. We are part of society, and we have our narratives that we just want to have be part of the conversation.

Asian Americans are not a monolith.

You speak about how “The Harvest” tells a universal story, but it’s also a classically American story. Can you speak about that?

I just hope people see that this is an American film. Yes, there are Asians in it. Yes, there are Hmong people in it, but it's such an American film. This is what America looks like, this is what diversity looks like, this is what inclusion looks like. America is a mix of different communities, and we are bringing the spice and the sauce to make America better. You know, without Sriracha you won’t get Sriracha and mayo. That’s what the beauty of this film is, the mix of diversity in front and behind the camera.

But it’s also a classic American story in that it’s about a younger generation born in America to parents that immigrated, and the ensuing navigation of tradition, family obligations and developing one’s own identity. There’s a scene in the film that captures this where you say, “The love that we know is obligation.” Can you unpack that?

In a lot of Asian cultures, and also immigrant or refugee communities that immigrated to the United States, we still have those cultures and traditions that still hinder on the younger generation, because they have expectations from their parents.

It’s going to be that clash because our generation will probably still hone in and still value tradition, but how do we intertwine and mix it with these new cultures, the American culture that we live in — the expectation and the obligation of our parents and tradition that we want to still be there for our kids.

For my character Thai, it’s like he’s putting the puzzle pieces together. He’s going back home to see if he wants to lay down the last piece to fill the puzzle. That piece of the puzzle is this obligation that is built into him, that he needs to lay it down so the puzzle is finished and he can move on.

Is there a scene from the film that really celebrates Hmong culture?

I think the wedding scene was one of the big eye-openers for people. It shines a beauty on Hmong culture — the fabrics, the customs. It also pays a lot of respect to General Vang Pao, who is part of Hmong history.

Anything you’re excited to do when you’re back in Minnesota?

I pretty much just miss Hmong food. I like eating out at Hmongtown or Hmong Village. My mom makes the best scrambled eggs. I miss that, too.