NYWIFT Blog

By Marchelle Thurman

Welcome to NYWIFT, Veanne Cao!

I had the opportunity to interview Veanne Cao, a Vietnamese-Chinese writer and director whose work spans both the personal and the playful.

Her short films—ranging from intimate dramas that explore memory, identity, and the Asian diaspora to comedies inspired by life’s absurdities—have screened at festivals around the world. Beyond the indie film space, she brings her storytelling sensibilities to the commercial and editorial world, producing content for global brands and publications.

Veanne currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two shih-tzus.

Tell us about yourself—give us your elevator pitch!  

My dad was a video director and engineer during the analog days so I grew up surrounded by Betacams, soundboards, a couple of Fresnel’s… I spent my childhood shooting whimsical narratives with my little brother. That early exposure sparked a lifelong love for storytelling and led me to study film and media at the University of San Francisco.

I spent the next decade in video journalism before shifting into the creative agency space as a video director. Along the way, I’ve continued to write screenplays and direct independent short films.

Veanne and her father

Congratulations on Lola’s Spaghetti and your NYWIFT Outstanding Female Content Creator win at the 2025 Asian American Film Lab 72-Hour Shootout! What was that experience like for you?  

Thank you! For those unfamiliar: The AAFL 72-Hour Shootout is an annual competition that challenges filmmakers to write, shoot, and edit – essentially make a five-minute film based on a common theme.  All within 72 hours. The event aims to amplify AAPI voices by providing them a platform to tell authentic stories from their unique point of view.

It was a grueling endeavor, but there was a lot of joy that weekend. The five of us (all friends) signed up as an excuse to hang out, be creative, and break away from the usual daily grind.

We didn’t expect much beyond a fun project, so to receive this recognition from both AAFL and NYWIFT is deeply humbling.

Still of Mallory Wu and Jason Amerling from Lola’s Spaghetti

What inspired The Last Bite?

After dinner one evening with friends, my boyfriend brought home a brown paper bag with a to-go box inside. Inside the to-go box was one tiny, itty-bitty morsel of cake. 
I laughed and pointed out this little quirk in our Asian culture, how no one ever takes the last piece of food on the plate because everyone is so damn polite: “No, you take the last bite.” “No no, I’m so very full, you should have it.”

I joked, “Wouldn’t it be funny if it escalated into a full-blown kung-fu scuffle?”

I wrote the script on a Thursday, my boyfriend (a stuntman and several times martial arts gold medalist) choreographed the slapstick Stephen Chow-esque fight the next day, and we shot the whole thing with our friend Li Jun Li that weekend. The short film premiered at the Chelsea Film Festival and made its round on the festival circuit last year.

Still of Li Jun Li from The Last Bite

You wore many hats on The Last Bite—cinematographer, director, editor, producer, and writer. How did you balance all those roles?

For a good decade, I worked as a video journalist – schlepping heavy equipment around the world to produce, shoot and edit videos on absurdly tight deadlines. An invaluable skill I developed during that time was the ability to quickly and adeptly jump from one role into another. It feels intuitive at this point.

Veanne Cao (left) at the Chelsea Film Festival with Celia Au

You’re a trained classical pianist and were, once upon a time, a rave DJ.  How has that influenced your work as an artist?

Outside of just being constantly inspired by music, there are real transferable skills. I picked up DJing (vinyl, specifically, because I love its tactile quality) fairly quickly because of my classical piano background/music theory training. I was particularly obsessed with drum and bass for its rhythmic complexities and intricate soundscapes.

Mixing those records trained my ear in a different way, and over time, video editing started to feel instinctual, like a dance between sound and moving images.

Behind the scenes of Inchoate (by Leanne Dixon)

What has been your biggest challenge?  

Time management. 

Still of Celia Au and Beckett Chin Cho from Mama Sik Fan / 媽媽 食飯

What’s next for you?  

I’m currently writing a screenplay about a woman who discovers a portal to a small Vietnamese village in the 1960s, where she meets her mother as a little girl. It’s a deeply personal story – both a love letter to my own mother and a form of catharsis as I come to terms with infertility caused by endometriosis. At its heart, the script explores maternal bonds, sacrifices and a quiet grief.

On a lighter note, I’m also in pre-production for Brokelyn, a short comedy about a twenty-something misfit who has 40 bucks to her name and two weeks to make rent. 

Still of Yvonne Truong from Subway Song

Beyond filmmaking, I saw that you collect 19th-century maps, and film cameras. What draws you to those items?

My interest in 19th-century maps of Vietnam started after a trip to Hong Kong, where I came across a rare French colonial-era map. My aunt, a schoolteacher in Vietnam, once told me that most of the maps of Vietnam were destroyed after the French-Indochina war. The new regime sought to control geographic information and erase colonial traces. Ever since, I’ve made it a habit, whenever I travel, to stop by a local bookstore or antique shop, hoping to find another piece of that forgotten cartography.

My dad buys and sells antique audio/video equipment at the flea markets in the Bay Area. Growing up, he’d often bring home old film cameras he’d found during his weekend hunts – anything he thought looked cool or had character. I used to shoot a lot on 35mm; not so much anymore as it’s become an expensive hobby.

Learn more about Veanne Cao’s work on her website veanne.com and connect with her on Instagram at @veanne.

(All images courtesy of Veanne Cao)