Taste Short Film

Welcome to the fundraising page for the short film 'Taste.'

After her mother’s death, a young Vietnamese-American woman struggles to recreate her family’s pho recipe. But as her boyfriend helps her piece it together on the eve of his moving abroad, she discovers that what she’s really preserving isn’t the recipe. It’s the memory of love, loss, and home.

Our Director's Statement:

As a filmmaker of Taiwanese and Vietnamese heritage, Taste is my way of reconnecting with my roots and honoring the stories that shaped me.

After moving to the U.S. to pursue filmmaking, I began connecting with Vietnamese communities and hearing their stories—stories of migration, memory, and resilience. Through them, I discovered new perspectives on the war, on identity, and on what it means to belong. These experiences inspired me to create Taste, a film that explores how food can carry our history, grief, and love across generations.

When my grandfather passed away, I felt a deep disconnection from my mother’s Vietnamese side. A culture I could taste but not fully speak. Food became my language. The scent of pho broth, the warmth of herbs and spice, these were fragments of memory I could still hold onto.

Through Taste, I want to celebrate that universal longing for connection.

The way something as simple as a shared meal can bridge cultures, preserve memory, and remind us who we are.

-Ting Li Tsai

We are making this film to explore how food becomes a language of remembrance and a ritual that carries the weight of grief, culture, and healing across generations. By supporting this film, you’re helping bring a deeply personal story to life. One that speaks to anyone who’s ever tried to hold on to home.

Funds will go towards cost of production, including but not limited to catering, cast costs, and a prospective film festival budget!