1985
Film Screening & Conversation
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Concordia University, Buenger Education Center, 379 Syndicate St N, St. Paul, MN 55104
The Qhia Dab Neeg Film Festival’s third community screening featured 1985, directed by Kang Vang and released in 2016.
This screening was presented In partnership with the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University–St. Paul,.
1985 / Kang Vang / circa 2016
1985 is a feature-length adventure film by Hmong American filmmaker Kang Vang. The story follows an adventurous Hmong teenager who discovers a secret map leading to a mythical dragon and sets off with his three best friends on a quest filled with danger, excitement, and unexpected challenges. Blending adventure and mythology with a coming-of-age story, the film follows the young friends as their search becomes a journey of friendship, courage, and self-discovery. Through its Hmong characters and cultural perspective, 1985 brings Hmong American experiences into the tradition of youth-centered adventure cinema.
1985 Excerpt / kang Vang / circa 2016
This excerpt features highlights from 1985, a groundbreaking feature film that celebrates Hmong American identity through humor, adventure, and nostalgia. Filmmaker Kang Vang has been an influential voice in Minnesota’s Hmong filmmaking community, placing the experiences of second-generation Hmong Americans at the center of his storytelling. Through films such as 1985, Vang helped expand how Hmong American lives and identities could be represented on screen—through stories shaped not only by history and cultural tradition, but also by friendship, humor, imagination, and the experience of growing up Hmong in America.
Qhia Dab Neeg: 50 Years of Hmong Film in Minnesota has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.