Khai Thu Nguyen is a Vietnamese American filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work centers on stories rarely seen on screen, highlighting communities that have traditionally been overlooked. Her award-winning short films have screened at festivals across the U.S. Table Stakes explores the creators of Fracture Comics and their mission to carve out space for people of color in the comic book industry. Alexa and May, inspired by her mother’s complex relationship with an Amazon Alexa device, blend humor and heart.

Executive produced by W. Kamau Bell, Khai’s debut feature film, The Dao of Thao (CAAMFest, 2026) about performer Thao P. Nguyen navigating queer Vietnamese identity while making a new comedy show, is supported by Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), W. Kamau Bell’s company Who Knows Best Productions, BVAC Media, and IDA. Khai was a field producer on the HBO Max documentary series Not So Pretty, which investigates toxic chemicals in the beauty industry and their impact on communities like Vietnamese American nail salon workers. She is a 2024 BAVC National Mediamaker Fellow, an SFFILM Rainin Grant finalist, a 2023 BAVC Mediamaker Connect Mentee, and a Still I Rise Films Fellow. Before turning to filmmaking, Khai directed and produced theater in both the Bay Area and Vietnam. Her writing has been published in Asian Theatre Journal, Neoliberalism and Global Theatres, and American as Foreigner on Stage, supported by grants from Fulbright-Hays, the UC Pacific Rim Research Program, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy. Khai holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.