Bad Axe

My wife and I saw this yesterday at the Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF). We live in rural Michigan on the other side of the state from Bad Axe but our little town could be theirs (except we don't have a Walmart, thank God.) But the sentiment of many in Bad Axe is pretty much the same as our town.

As a member of the Cambodian-Mexican family that director & cinematographer David Siev is documenting, he lovingly shot this intimate story of the travails of his family during the COVID years in an area that suspected Asian families, especially those that were public about their sympathies. Family members were shown including their flaws and moments of anger and despair. I think this was a very honest film.

And how wonderful it was to see the entire family at the TCFF showing. It is impressive that their restaurant /bar (which so struggled during the quarantine) is doing better than ever and is embraced by most in their community. David has returned the love. (And you gotta love how feisty David's sister, Jaclyn, is throughout the difficult times for all of them.)

I saw Bad Axe in Bad Axe. The movie is honest and accurate. The events portrayed happened exactly as shown.

The film is about an Asian-American family that owns and operates a restaurant in Bad Axe. Through the film they fight to keep their business alive in the face of the pandemic and the upheaval of the 2020 elections. It is a beautiful movie about a difficult period in history.

Go see it!

First off, you must see this movie as I won't give any spoilers!

As a father who brought his 17-year old daughter to this movie, I was able to place myself in the shoes of the Patriarch who had escaped Cambodia as a child. This movie takes you in, builds the tension, and explodes with emotion both bad and good. The ending ties the movie together, and then you realize that this is not an ending, but rather, just the beginning!

I don't see how any parent could go to this movie and not be moved by the individual struggles of the family members and their extremely supportive friends and employees (they own a restaurant) regardless of your ethnicity.

I had a chance to meet the family and give the father a big hug as it left me thinking one very important word: Genuine.

I laughed, I cried, and I was inspired! What more can you ask from a movie? Despite the fact that it was a documentary, I really enjoyed the drama and story arc, all very deftly carved out in the intense setting of COVID lockdown and the rise of anti-Asian racism. This film was featured on opening night of the San Diego Asian Film Festival and we were so fortunate to have Jaclyn, Chun, Rachel and Kat answer some of our questions. Hearing them speak live made me appreciate even more how skillfully David Siev edited their natural voices to provide such depth of meaning and continuity with such a delicate and loving eye.

A lovely movie about a mixed race family in the heart of covid Michigan. From East Asia, Mexico and the Mid-West this family goes through every real life trial and victory. Just saw it at The Milwaukee Film Festival.