Erie County Smile (Screening and Q&A)

Erie County Smile is a satirical short film by Van Tran Nguyen, in collaboration with Alex Derwick, Ako Shergazy, Bryan Czerniawski and Mengtai Zhang.

The film is a parody of "Paris By Night" (PBN), a popular Vietnamese-language variety show. PBN gained notoriety in the Vietnamese diasporic community by the mid 1990s and is still in production today. Music from the live shows were recorded and commonly played at Vietnamese-owned businesses all over the world. In the waiting area of my family's nail salon, we always had PBN in the VHS player.

This movie is dedicated to children of immigrants, who grew up behind doors labeled "EMPLOYEES ONLY".

Every year, the Rensselaer Department of the Arts programs seven events utilizing the infrastructure and support of the production teams at EMPAC. These productions often include final graduate thesis projects that are developed in the venues themselves.