Thawj Tug Huv Nruab Plawv
Tug Kawg Ntawm Lub Neej
Starring Npawj Yaaj and Paaj Kub Vaaj
Written and Directed by Ntsuab Rwg Tsaab

I was expecting to see a lot of emotion and a lot of fresh romance with this one. Sadly to say, I was disappointed beyond measures. First, the film lacked a strong script and true meaning words. The script needed a lot of work to really pull the audience. Because this is a romance film, there needed to be good chemistry between the two actors who were playing the leading roles. They lacked chemistry and the acting between them was like watching two siblings play tag.

As much as this film tried to create humor, it came off as cheap comedy. In the beginning when Pov (Npawj Yaaj) enters the screen and comes knocking on the door and then accidentally knocks on his cousin’s head, was supposed to bring laughter from the audience. It did…for two seconds before the strangely introduction between the two destroyed it. It went from “who are you” to “oh, right, you’re my cousin.” Introducing the characters should really come off strong and powerful, creating an everlasting image for the audience. However, Pov’s character only dimmed a bit and then disappeared as the film rolled on.

Vim Tsawg Ib Los Lus 1, 2, & 3
Starring Luj Yaj, Ntxawm Hawj, Cua Yaj, and Tshaus Hawj
Written and Directed by Herlinda Vang

Do you believe in second chances? Do you believe in life after death and the ability to love the same person in the next life? For some, this is a question that haunts their minds daily and threatens to send them insane. For some, it’s a truth that they already know and silently keep to themselves. For others, it’s a painful reminder of what could have been. In Vim Tsawg Ib Los Lus, we get to see all three of these incidents come to life. From acclaimed director and writer, Herlinda Vang, comes a story of hope, love, and faith beyond your imagination.

Super star international singer Luj Yaj makes a killer performance as Suab Txooj, a young man in his prime, who finds love in Ntsais Lias (Ntxawm Hawj). Together, they make sweet promises to be faithful to each other. But in one single afternoon, after harmless flirting, Ntsais Lias marries Leem. Hurt, Suab Txooj doesn’t understand why she did what she did. Was it because he was short a few words of love? But not long after marriage, Ntsais Lias learns that Leem isn’t who she thought he was. When she is forced out of the house, she goes to live in a small hut by herself and the child growing inside her womb.

Years later, Ntsias Lias’ daughter, Suab Cua (Tshaus Hawj) meets a young new teacher from Bangkok who has come to teach the children. He’s well mannered, handsome, and single. Immediately, she finds herself a bit smitten with him, but keeps her distance. Txuj Ci (Cua Yaj) finds himself in love with this beautiful Hmong girl from the mountains. They start a relationship and fall in love. When they finally do marry, only then does the truth come out. Txuj Ci is Suab Txooj’s son and as the old Hmong phrase says, “If I can’t have you, my daughter will marry your son,” is exactly what happens.

Ntsias Lias becomes ill and after trying to recover and failing, she dies in Suab Txooj’s arms. After suffering deep depression, Suab Txooj soon follows the path of death. When they meet in the afterlife upon God’s gates, they are shocked to learn that they will have to find each other once again in the new life. God won’t guarantee that they will find one another; that path is up to them. And if they are to be together, they will suffer financially. They both agree and they set out to find each other in the next life.

Starring Qaib Dib Ham, Kiab Toom Ham, Thoj Ham, and Nrhoob Lauj
Directed and Written by MyKurt Lor

LOL, laugh out loud, or as my sister in law recently have invented, LNN Laug Nrov Nrov is what I’d sum up this film to be. I had a belly ache of laughter and was near tears at some scenes. I was literally clinging onto my stomach for dear life and by the time I was done LNN, I was literally out of breath. From director MyKurt Lor, comes a story filled with laughter, love, and two outrageous cops you will find yourself mocking.

Qaib Dib and Thai are two cops in a small Hmong village where they are the only two cops around to keep the peace and the quiet, and they try to, if they can run fast enough. Qaib Dib is tall, but can’t run very fast, and Thai is short and can’t run at all. Between the two of them, criminals get away more than they are caught.

But they get a chance to prove they are worthy of wearing the badge when a bigger town not far away sends an undercover cop to pose as a monk to solve the mystery of two missing Hmong American men who came to Thailand. Kiab Toom comes to the town dressed as a monk, trying to keep things under control until he meets Nrhoob, a local girl. As beautiful as she is mysterious, he falls head over heels for her. But looks can be deceiving, can’t it? Just because one is beautiful, it doesn’t mean she’s perfect and Kiab Toom will soon realize that the path she’s walking on doesn’t quite make her a dime in her eyes.

The laughter is endless when it comes to Qaib Dib and Thai who are thrown into the mess to try to solve the investigation. It goes from taking money from the wrong side of the gang, to being tortured by the biggest gang leader, and when I say tortured, I mean it old style; the ball breaker, the nipple crusher, and the tickle your feet until you die method. The two of them get it on and become the biggest heroes when they least realize it.

Nyiaj Dollas Muaj Nqes Tshaj
Starring P Nyuam Y, Nuv Xyooj, Cua Yaj, Dib Thoj, Txiab Yaj, Naslis Lis, and Nxtawm Lauj
Written by Cuaj Cheej Vaj / Directed by Huas Xyooj and Cuaj Cheej Vaj

Hmong men have created a stereotype among themselves and it’s not a pretty one. It’s been known that most men who are single who go to Thailand are in a venture for “young” women to marry as a second wife. The status of having a wife and children doesn’t stop them from their one goal: A younger looking wife. From director, Huas Xyooj and Cuaj Cheej Vaj, comes a film about a man’s goal in trying to find young women and returning to find that he no longer has a home.

Coj Tus is a married man with four young kids, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting to fool around with other women. When the chance to go to Thailand comes, he lies to his wife that he wants to go make a film. Believing him, he goes to Thailand and reunites with his older brother, Nkaj, and the two go on an endless spree of finding young women to become heroines in his fake film. His one purpose is to find pretty women to hold and kiss while pretending to shoot pictures. Nkaj’s wife, played by Cua Yaj, doesn’t really believe that Coj Tus is a good person. But because he is his brother, Nkaj does what he asks, following him around until they meet trouble. They ask a young girl to film and when they return her, trouble stirs when her father demands money for the time he took her away from him. As if that isn’t enough, when he gets himself out of that mess, he takes the father’s younger daughter out and is again trapped with a suddenly bigger amount of relief money. When he phones home, his wife tells him to stick it where it doesn’t shine and he runs back home to America, leaving his older brother to take care of the mess.

Nkaj, thinking his brother will hold onto his word of sending money back to take care of the mess, lets him leave only to find out the hard way that his words are anything but broken promises. Soon enough, Nkaj’s marriage breaks apart due to the chaos and he is now a criminal in the town. When Coj Tus returns home, he finds himself locked out and the house he used to call home for sale.

A lot of this film was based on nothing but absolute winging it as the camera man shot the actors. There probably wasn’t a script, I felt, as I watched it. The entire part of Coj Tus trying to get his hands on the young women while pretending to film could have been condensed so that it doesn’t cover too much of the film. It repeated again and again the same lines were said over and over. What I would have liked better was if they showed him doing it once and then playing music while the scenes go on to show his continued effort of trying to hold the young women. Plus the scenes weren’t really necessary and it prolonged the film.

Kev Hlub Muaj Nqis Tshaj
Starring Tub A Lauj, Paj Huab Vaj, Maiv See Yaj, Ntxawg Yaj, Nuv Xyooj, and Yi Xyooj
Directed by Tswb Yaj
Written by P Nyuam Y

What kind of price are you willing to pay for love? What would you do if it cost you your life? What would you do if it cost three lives? Are you willing to sacrifice your soul for three lives lost to one mistake that could have been easily avoided? From Director Tswb Yaj and writer P Nyuam Y, comes a story full of a surprising twist that will you leave you breathless and shocked.

Ib Sim (Tub A Lauj) is a young man who has found the love of his life in a young woman, Hnub Qub (Paj Huab Vaj). Together, they share life’s treasures and simple laughter through thick and thin. Hnub Qub’s father is suffering from kidney failure and to pay medicine that she gets from an older woman, she and Ib Sim work the farm lands for money. But to get fifteen thousand is a lot of work and a little money earned.

When all things seem impossible, an older man from America, Txhawj Sim, comes to Thailand to film a movie. He’s looking for a good looking young woman to play the heroine in his film when he lays eyes on Hnub Qub. He decides to ask her to be his heroine, but she declines and offers him the story of her father’s failing health. In an instant, he asks to see her father and a plot forms in his mind. If he can help her father get the surgery he needs to live, Hnub Qub will marry him. Her father forces her to choose between love or his life. In the end, a broken hearted Hnub Qub ends up choosing her father over love and ends up letting true love go.