Timothy Linh Bui (b. Saigon, South Vietnam, April 13, 1970) is a Vietnamese-born American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, film producer, and screenwriter. He directed '' Green Dragon'', and co-wrote and produced '' Three Seasons''.

Early life

Bui was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, and came to the United States with his family as a refugee of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

in 1975, leaving Vietnam approximately one week before the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

. He grew up in Sunnyvale, California, in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. His parents held a

video store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms a ...

where he watched "thousands" of movies and shot amateur action short films in his parents' backyard. Bui initially moved to Los Angeles to study in business school, but quickly dropped out to join a film school. He is a graduate of Los Angeles film school,

Columbia College Hollywood Columbia College Hollywood (CCH) is a private college in Los Angeles, California. It is one of only 20 film institutions in the United States that have been awarded full membership by the International Association of Film and Television Schools ...

(CCH). Timothy Linh Bui is the older brother of Tony Bui, who is also a film director and producer. Bui is also the nephew of the Vietnamese actor Đơn Dương.

Career

In 1999, Tim Bui co-wrote the film '' Three Seasons'' with his brother, the first US-funded production about Vietnam that portrayed the beauty of the country instead of the war horrors of the 1970s. This trip to Vietnam revived his interest for his family's country. In 2001, he released '' Green Dragon'', which took place in the Vietnamese

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

in Pendleton, California in 1975. Patrick Swayze's last film appearance was in Tim Bui's 2009 film ''

Powder Blue __NOTOC__ Powder blue is a pale shade of blue. As with most colours, there is no absolute definition of its exact hue. Originally, ''powder blue'', in the 1650s, was powdered smalt (cobalt glass) used in laundering and dyeing applications, an ...

''. In 2013, Bui, along with his partner Anh Tran, co-founded the movie production company ''Happy Canvas Film'' in the USA. In 2016, he moved Happy Canvas Film to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to develop the film industry in the country. The studio worked on the production of a Vietnamese version of the TV show '' The Bachelor''. In 2018, Bui was part of the production team behind the American remake of his 2016 film '' The Housemaid''.

Filmography

Awards

* 2001: Best Advance Screening for ''Green Dragon'' at the Austin Film Festival * 2001: Best Film for ''Green Dragon'' at the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

* 1999: Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, Cinematography for ''Three Season'' at the Sundance Film Festival * 2001: Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Film for ''Green Dragon'' at the Sundance Film Festival * 2014: Silver Kite Award Best Feature Film for ''How To Fight in Six Inch Heels'' (Am Muu Giay Got Nhon) at the Vietnam Awards * 2016: Highest Grossing Vietnamese Horror Film for ''The Housemaid'' at the Vietnam Awards * 2017: Silver Lotus Award Best Feature Film for ''The Housemaid'' (Co Hau Gai) at the Golden Lotus Film Festival

References

External links