about xuan vu

Xuan Vu is a documentary filmmaker whose core motivation is to give a voice to those who otherwise would not be heard. The main focus of her work is to gain insight into the lives of individuals with unique perspectives, whether it be a monk in a Vietnamese monastery or a deaf child living in a suburb of Boston. As a student of life, Xuan feels that her purpose as a filmmaker is to share the knowledge and wisdom she learns from her subjects with the rest of the world.

From 2007-2009, Xuan worked with Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, Dorothy Fadiman, as principal editor and associate producer on two of Fadiman's political documentary films (STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote, theatrically released in 2008 and RECLAIMING Their VOICE, released in 2010). The latter, a film about the history and present-day state of Native American voting rights, garnered the attention of several national and international film festivals, including a special selection at the United Nations Association Film Festival and winning "Best New Mexico Film" at the Duke City DocFest.

Her work in 2011 as principal editor on Holy Crap!, a film about current sustainability efforts in Haiti, is currently being featured on the National Geographic website as a "Special Video: In the Field" and was officially selected to screen at the Tallgrass International Film Festival. Her more recent projects include a co-producer and principal editor role on Can, a yet-to-be-released feature-length film about a Vietnamese-American refugee dealing with mental illness, as well as directing and producing a work-in-progress film about La Fundación Palmitas Unidas, a youth foundation in poverty-stricken Salento, Colombia.

Originally a student of anthropology, Xuan began her film career as an ethnographer with an avid interest in philosophy and spirituality. Her graduate thesis was a documentary film about two Zen students living at the Cambridge Zen Center in Cambridge, MA. Xuan holds a dual BA/MA degree in Documentary Filmmaking and East/West Philosophy from Boston University's University Professors Program, an interdisciplinary program for gifted students.