TRAILER
ABOUT
BAD AXE captures a closely-knit Asian American family living in rural Michigan during the pandemic as they fight to keep their local restaurant and American dream alive. With rising racial tensions, the family uses their voice and must unite as they reckon with backlash from a divided community, white supremacists, and intergenerational trauma from Cambodia's "killing fields." - Directed by David Siev
INTERVIEWS
Amelia Hapsari conversation with David Siev on BAD AXE
Kirsten Johnson conversation with David Siev on BAD AXE
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science
Academy Conversations | Matt Carey & David Siev
Film Independent | Q&A Eva Longoria, Daniel Dae Kim, David & Rachel Siev
MSNBC American Voices | Host Alicia Menendez w/ David Siev, Chun Siev, and Jaclyn Siev
Yung Chang conversation with David Siev on BAD AXE
IN THE PRESS
"The most essential film made about this era"
"Among the finest and most important films of the year"
"A penetrating assessment of American society"
"Potent and personal"
"Heartfelt and intimate"
FILMMAKERS
Director | Producer | Cinematographer
David Siev
Midwest-born and raised, David is a first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American filmmaker. Prior to directing his SXSW award-winning feature debut, Bad Axe, David attended the University of Michigan film school. He spent his early career embracing the versatility of guerrilla filmmaking, working on various projects under director Jeff Tremaine including BAD TRIP (Netflix), THE DIRT (Netflix). He first made waves in the Asian-American festival circuit with the debut of his award-winning short film based on his father's experience of surviving the "killing fields" titled YEAR ZERO. The film would go on to win Best Narrative Short awards from the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Manhattan International Film Festival, and several others. David now lives in New York City and is focused on developing narrative and documentary projects.
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Producer
Jude Harris
is a producer and development executive living and working in Los Angeles, California. Her documentary credits include Hulu’s 2020 music documentary 69: THE SAGA OF DANNY HERNANDEZ, the 2021 SXSW documentary KID CANDIDATE, and the true crime documentary AFTER THE MURDER OF ALBERT LIMA which premiered at Doc NYC. Harris produced Amy Adrion’s 2018 Starz documentary HALF THE PICTURE on gender equity in Hollywood, featuring exclusive interviews from luminary female directors including Ava Duvernay, Nisha Ganatra, Joey Soloway, and Karyn Kusama. Harris is the Executive Director of Film & Television for Hearst Magazines and formerly the SVP of Production and Development at Gunpowder & Sky, and VP of Development of MTV(other)
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Producer
Diane Quon
is an Academy Award-nominated producer who worked as a marketing executive at NBC and Paramount Pictures in LA before moving back to her hometown of Chicago. Diane produced multiple documentaries including: Oscar and Emmy nominated, Peabody award-winning film, MINDING THE GAP (Hulu, POV); THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE (Showtime); Emmy-nominated FINDING YINGYING (MTVDocs); FOR THE LEFT HAND (PBS), WUHAN WUHAN (POV) and BAD AXE (IFC FILMS). She is producing the upcoming documentaries: SURF NATION, UNTITLED SAM AND OMAR PROJECT, and THE UNTITLED 19TH* NEWS FILM. Diane is also developing a fiction film based on a New York Times bestseller, as well as Bing Liu’s first fiction film. Diane is an AMPAS and PGA member, a recipient of the Cinereach Producer Award, and is a Sundance Creative Producing Fellow and Film Independent Fellow.
Producer
Kat Vasquez
spent her childhood as a Navy brat moving from city to city across the country. Her home is now in Astoria, New York where she works as an independent filmmaker and producer for films, television, and digital media. Kat has served as a producer and columnist for Yahoo Lifestyle since 2017 where she writes and creates daily news and content. She’s also worked on a number of Emmy award-winning TV shows (ELLEN DEGENERES, DOCTOR PHIL, FABLIFE). As David’s producing partner at Baker’s Dozen Films, Kat played an integral role in the development of bringing David’s vision for the documentary film, BAD AXE, to life.
Executive Producer
Daniel Dae Kim
has made a career of creating multifaceted and stereotype-breaking roles as an actor, director and now, producer. Prior to his seven-season portrayal of Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii Five-0," Kim was best known for his role as Jin Soo Kwon on the hit TV series "Lost," for which he shared a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble, and was individually honored with an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award and a Vanguard Award from the Korean American Coalition, all for Outstanding Performance by an Actor. In 2009, he was recognized with the prestigious KoreAm Achievement Award in the field of Arts and Entertainment, and has twice been named one of "People" Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive." In addition to his onscreen career, Kim spearheads his production company 3AD, established in 2014 by Daniel Dae Kim to produce premier content for TV, film and digital media - in development partnership with ITV Studios America. Committed to storytelling that features characters and cultures traditionally underrepresented in today's media, 3AD produced projects include this season's acclaimed new series The Good Doctor (ABC),where he serves as Executive Producer.
Executive Producer
Jeff Tremaine
was born a military brat and hustled from state to state until finally settling in Rockville, Maryland. There, he quickly gravitated towards the alternative world of skateboarding, BMX, reggae music, and art... pursuits that would shape a career to come. After attending Washington University, Tremaine headed out West, where he slid into the layout jockey position at Go magazine. From there, he became the art/editorial director for Big Brother. At the magazine, Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville laid the seeds for JACKASS, a television series that would become a cultural phenomenon, spawning a franchise of hit movies. Beyond JACKASS, Tremaine has created and executive produced a number of television series' including MTV's WILDBOYZ, ROB & BIG, NITRO CIRCUS, ROB DYRDEK'S FANTASY FACTORY, DUDESONS IN AMERICAN, and the series, RIDICULOUSNESS
CONTACT
