Foung Hawj

Qhia Dab Neeg Spotlight Filmmaker

Continue to be inclusive, spend your time with the community, involve the community, and continue to document and do the best to record the world that we know today, but also pursue toward excellence in terms of storytelling, recording, and also the quality of your production.

Foung Hawj is a Hmong American media producer, filmmaker, technology professional, and Minnesota state senator whose involvement in media spans more than three decades. Inspired by recordings made during the Secret War in Laos, Hawj developed an early interest in using audiovisual media to document people, communities, and history. He studied computer science and media production and, after college, worked with Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), where he produced a Hmong-language television program from 1991 to 1995. He later established his own production company and continued working as a producer and media consultant while expanding his professional work into technology and nonprofit service. Now serving in the Minnesota Senate, Hawj continues to identify as a filmmaker and video producer and encourages younger Hmong filmmakers to remain connected to community, document the world around them, and pursue excellence in their storytelling and craft.

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.