Bad Axe captures a closely-knit Asian American family living in rural Michigan during the pandemic as they fight to keep their local restaurant and American dream alive. With rising racial tensions, the family uses their voice and must unite as they reckon with backlash from a divided community, white supremacists, and intergenerational trauma from Cambodia’s “killing fields.”

David Siev is a Midwest born-and-bred first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American filmmaker. Prior to directing his SXSW award-winning feature debut, Bad Axe, David attended the University of Michigan film school. He spent his early career embracing the versatility of guerrilla filmmaking, working on various projects under director Jeff Tremaine including BAD TRIP (Netflix), THE DIRT (Netflix). He first made waves in the Asian-American festival circuit with the debut of his award-winning short film based on his father’s experience of surviving the “killing fields” titled YEAR ZERO. The film would go on to win Best Narrative Short awards from the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Manhattan International Film Festival, and several others. David now lives in New York City and is focused on developing narrative and documentary projects.

Watch the Bad Axe trailer:

This event is hosted by the Shorenstein Center in collaboration with the Asian American Policy Review, an HKS student journal. It is free and open to all Harvard community members (students, faculty, staff, fellows, and affiliates).