A.K.A. Don Bonus on AllMovie

This gritty documentary chronicles the daily life of an 18-year old Cambodian immigrant living in San Francisco. It is literally a filmed diary for Sokly (Don Bonus) Ny who spent 12 months making the film as part of a homework assignment for a filmmaking class taught by director Spencer Nakasako. During the first few months of filming, Ny is seen living in a run-down, dangerous housing project. His mother lives with her new lover in another part of town, and father is living in Cambodia. Ny and his other Asian neighbors are frequently terrorized by the criminal activities in their neighborhood. He worries that his older brother is involved with gangs. But though the reality of his life there is grim, Ny hopes that with hard work, he can have a "normal" American life. At the film's end, he chronicles a lively graduation dance party and the joy his family feels when they learn that they are to be given a larger, safer apartment by a government program.