Doua Moua’s big break came in 2008, when he was cast as “Spider” in the film “Gran Torino” — the first feature film to spotlight Hmong Americans. Now 15 years later, Moua’s family drama, “The Harvest” — which he wrote, produced and stars in — is set for its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Moua sat down with TheWrap’s Lawrence Yee ahead of the festival to talk about his labor of love.
Tell us about the genesis of the project
After “Gran Torino,” I was on hold for a couple of different projects. They all kinda fell through because [the role] went to a white guy or the project got shelved. So it got to the point, “When am I going to get another role if I don’t write a film for myself?
I went back and forth — should I tell the story about my dad and me, a son with his Hmong father going through a kidney issue and [familial] obligation stuff? And so I kind of wrote that. And I continued rewriting and rewriting and got to a point where it was good enough to be pitched. I pitched it to different producers, even Asian producers, and everyone just wanted to turn it into a white film, a Korean film, a Chinese film. I just needed to keep finding the right producer that will believe in this project.
How did you react when producers told you they wanted to tell your story through an East Asian lens rather than South Asian?
Being Hmong Americans, we live in a society — and us particularly in the entertainment industry — where everything gravitates toward marketability. Being the producer of “The Harvest,” I understand that studios and investors want to make their money back. So that’s why [films] are targeted towards more East Asian stories. Nowadays, we’re slowly moving towards, more Southeast Asian stories. But again, it’s more focused on one Southeast Asian minority group — the Vietnamese. Because that’s what Americans can relate to; how they can picture themselves fitting into a two-hour film through the Vietnamese perspective because of the Vietnam War.
How did you keep your film uniquely Hmong? I’m Chinese, so when an Asian language isn’t spoken in a film that isn’t Cantonese or Mandarin, my ears perk up. We’ve seen so many Chinese weddings on screen, but never a Hmong one.
The clothing is Hmong. The language is Hmong. But everything else — why I feel like this film works and is relatable — is because you see bits and parts of every Asian culture. Because the Hmong migrated through so much of Asia all the way down to Southeast Asia, we have taken so many bits and pieces of every place we stopped. So there’s parts of Chinese culture, Vietnamese culture — all the way to Laos and Thailand.
That’s the Hmong diaspora. Your people are, for better or worse, nomads but still have things that remain uniquely Hmong. And that’s what’s reflected in the film, as well as being American immigrants, right? You have this intergenerational thing where you have a daughter who is pressured to date a Hmong, and a son who is being pressured to find a Hmong wife and settle down. Why did you choose to set “The Harvest” in Long Beach, California over [Hmong enclave] Minnesota?
It was [intially] set in Minnesota and then that fell through. And then I realized we could relocate to Long Beach because there are Hmong people in Long Beach. It was better to be in a small community where there’s so much urgency within the family and the urgency of the father-son relationship.
And how did you land on director Caylee So?
The funny thing is, we both were born in Thai refugee camps. She grew up in a small community in Long Beach, a Cambodian community, so she understands the urgency and tightness of that.
I’m a Hmong Asian-American man writing about a father and son’s relationship, but there’s also a mother and daughter story and you want to make make sure they’re more rounded. Choosing Caylee was the right choice because she’s a mother and daughter, and could highlight those elements much better than I can.
She sees things that I can’t see as a writer or producer on this. When she says “action,” I’m just an actor on set. And when she says “cut” I need to put my producer hat on, I needed somebody that I can trust to make those choices if I can’t see it. I think the beautiful part of our collaboration on “The Harvest” is she’s able to let me have my moments and she’s allowed to have her moments to capture both sides of the story. And when it comes to the editing room, we can see what works and doesn’t work.
In a recent awards roundtable, Michelle Yeoh said she was envious of her fellow nominees because they have an opportunity to try different roles, and Asian actors do not. She credited the success of “Crazy Rich Asians” to paving the way for Marvel’s first Asian-led film “Shang Chi.” We love any visibility, but there are stories beyond affluent Asians and martial artists.
We need to start having more than just one actor be the face of Asian America. And what the Asian gatekeepers in Hollywood need to start doing is bringing up these upcoming actors and pushing them to a point where they could lead films. Look at Idris Elba, who went from small roles but kept growing and growing. That’s what we need to do as an Asian community in the entertainment industry.
With all due respect to [director] Jon Chu and Warner Bros, there have been films that came before “Crazy Rich Asians” that made box office and are a part of the conversation in the Asian community. “Gran Torino” has become a textbook in schools to talk about masculinity and racism. Yes, it was led by Clint Eastwood. Now, it’s time to take Asian leads to the next step.
“The Harvest” debuts Feb. 12 at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.