Phuong Bui

For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema, documented his life in what came to be known as his diary films. From his arrival in New York City as a displaced person in 1949 to his death in 2019, he chronicled the trauma and loss of exile while pioneering institutions to support the growth of independent film in the United States. Fragments of Paradise is an intimate look at his life and work constructed from thousands of hours of his own video and film diaries-including never-before-seen tapes and unpublished audio recordings. It is a story about finding beauty amidst profound loss, and a man who tried to make sense of it all... with a camera.

"The Waltz of the Monsters" is a narrative fantasy short about two young dreamers that chase a better way of living by setting up a journey to prove the existence of an old legend, only to find themselves stuck as their divergent objectives get on the way.

"Two Steps Away" is a narrative short film about two young students that fall in love from opposite sides of a canal.