DIRECTORS

Elizabeth Ai is a Chinese Vietnamese American Emmy award-winning storyteller and filmmaker. Her directorial feature hybrid documentary debut, NEW WAVE, had its world premiere in competition at the 2024 Tribeca Festival and was awarded a Special Jury Mention for Best New Documentary Director, with the jury praising her powerful and emotionally honest storytelling. The New York Times selected her film as a critics' pick, with the author calling it “My favorite Tribeca music documentary was a homespun affair: Elizabeth Ai’s 'New Wave,' a soft scream of a film about ’80s Vietnamese diaspora culture and style.” Vogue commended the film for revealing a subculture little known to outsiders, stating it "soars in its glimpses of the past," while Indiewire described it as “a love letter to her community and how its consumption of pop culture shaped defiant attitudes that still resonate today.” Ai writes and produces independent feature films and branded content for companies like National Geographic, ESPN, and VICE. She produced the documentary features DIRTY HANDS: THE ART & CRIMES OF DAVID CHOE (2008), and A WOMAN’S WORK: THE NFL’S CHEERLEADER PROBLEM (2019). Her narrative features include SAIGON ELECTRIC (2011), and BA (2024). While at VICE, Ai created the original pilot for the cannabis cooking show BONG APPÉTIT (2014), which was later picked up by Viceland.