I met Nicole in 2019 at Công Café in Hanoi, and that hour-long conversation was one of the most illuminating moments of my life. For the first time, I encountered a female Vietnamese producer whose passion, work ethic, and filmography left me in awe. Generous with her time, Nicole and I have stayed in touch, meeting over cups of coffee whenever we’re both in Vietnam.

Nicole produced the deeply moving documentary Finding Phong (2015), co-directed by Swann Dubus and Tran Phuong Thao. The film follows a young trans woman’s transition in Hanoi, intimate, courageous, and groundbreaking. She also worked on The Inseminator (2014), among other shorts, further cementing her reputation as a champion of underrepresented stories in Vietnamese cinema.

When Nicole sent me both films, I was stunned. It was the first time I truly grasped the power of alternative, deeply personal storytelling coming out of Vietnam, and knowing she was behind it made me go, nearly literally, “WOW.” Her talent and dedication inspired me profoundly: “I want to be like her.”
Nicole Pham is truly the indie film producer everyone in Vietnamese cinema should know.

Nicole Pham is known for Mien ký uc (2021), The Inseminator (2014) and L’Oeil du cyclone (1991)