Sai thao

filmmaker / photographer / teaching artist  / in progress board president                 . — filmmaker / photographer / teaching artist / in progress board president .

BIOGRAPHY

Sai Thao has been producing videos since she was 13 years old. She is Hmong American and resides in Saint Paul Minnesota. For the past 20 years Ms. Thao has been producing experimental and documentary shorts, many of which have gained national recognition. She has worked both as a producer for public television and has made more than 10 video shorts that have been exhibited throughout the United States, Thailand and Laos. Now at age 26 she is in the midst of producing Hidden in my Heart (an unwritten letter), a 30-minute experimental documentary about Hmong Identity and the fragile bonds of family within her culture.

Sai Thao was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the age of 18 she received her first grant as a filmmaker and has been working steadily as a producer and artist since that time. She is also the co-founder of In Progress, a small non-profit dedicated to building the voices of young artists from rural, tribal and migrant communities. She has dedicated her life’s work to bringing voice to those least heard, both through her own work and by teaching others.

BOARD SERVICES

Sai Thao was one of the original founders of In Progress. She served on the board of directors from 2000 to 2009. She is an accomplished filmmaker, teaching artist and community leader. She returned to the board in in 2014.