Cambodian Doughnut Dreams: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title Cambodian Doughnut Dreams. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.

The documentary follows refugees who fled their homeland during the Cambodian Civil War and found themselves a decade later working in three Los Angeles doughnut shops. The refugees, a medical student trying to fulfill her dead father’s dream, a former resistance fighter, and a widowed mother of two teenaged sons, discuss their experiences during the war as well as their hopes as American residents.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1989
• Directed by: Charles Davis, American, ca. born 1946
• Produced by: Charles Davis, American, ca. born 1946
• Subject of: Leng Hing, Cambodian American
• Subject of: Bunna Men, Cambodian American
• Subject of: Sokkun Kimpau, Cambodian American
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: documentaries
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration: 25 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 900 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Cambodia, Asia
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Foodways
• Topic: Immigration
• Topic: Labor
• Object number: 2017.55.89.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.