Recap: November 2025 Launch Events for Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau (We Are Together)

Written By Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau Community

Vietnamese-Edmonton Stories and Reflections on display at Where We Came From (and where we go from here) event on November 26, 2025 at Last Modern Event Venue in Downtown Edmonton. Photo by Dawn Graves.

This November 2025, new Vietnamese-Canadian non-profit Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau (We Are Together), held our two inaugural launch events in Edmonton, Alberta!

We want to thank the hundreds of Vietnamese-Edmontonians who came together at Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau's Nov. 17 film screening of Vietnamese-centered, English-language film NEW WAVE DOCUMENTARY, as well as our Nov. 26 Where We Came From (and where we go from here) - A Vietnamese-Edmonton Art, Food and Reflection Event. 

Co-founders Jessica Truong and Linda Hoang share opening remarks at the New Wave Documentary film screening on November 17, 2025 at NAIT Shaw Theatre. Photo by Dawn Graves.

These launch events and the community response Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau has received since, has reaffirmed the importance of Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau’s goals, values and mission, and the work we are doing to help the Vietnamese-Edmonton community reflect on, reclaim, and reconnect with their cultural heritage. We will continue these efforts by creating in-person and online spaces, storytelling, art, education, and community events designed to bring us together.

We want to thank launch event attendees, allies, volunteers, partners and sponsors for their early support, and everyone who has signed up to join Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau’s Vietnamese community network. If our efforts are something you want to support, or participating in more Vietnamese-Edmonton events and initiatives is of interest, please let us know!

200 attendees came together for Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau’s film screening of New Wave Documentary at NAIT Shaw Theatre on November 17, 2025. The event included a post-film panel on identity and belonging. Photo by Dawn Graves.

We are incredibly moved by the response, stories, and conversations that have come out of Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau’s launch events. We know these efforts have already made an impact and we look forward to continuing this work.

In this post we share about the art and reflection stations, activities, and speakers featured at our November launch events, along with some photos from both events in this post.

Please stay tuned as we announce 2026 events and initiatives.

Thank you!

- Linda & Jessica, Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau Co-Founders

Where We Came From (and where we go from here) - A Vietnamese-Edmonton Art, Food and Reflection Event.

“Our Vietnamese Home” - a replica of a Vietnamese-Edmonton living room, on display as part of Where We Came From (and where we go from here) event on November 26, 2025. Photo by Dawn Graves.

Event Speakers

Event Food

Event Activity and Reflection Stations

  • Community Stories and Reflections

    • Written Stories and Photo Display with submissions from Vietnamese-Edmontonians

  • Homeland Through Generations

  • To Where? - Interactive Paper Boat Art Installation sponsored by Dr. Chris Lê (Family Physician)

    • Honouring our parents' legacy and how we move forward, together, featuring 300 paper boats and airplanes symbolizing the risk and journey Vietnamese boat people took for us to be where we are today.

  • Interactive Postcard Reflections

    • Share about your Vietnamese identity and add it to our community board

  • Our Vietnamese Home

    • Take a seat, reflect and reminisce, and take your own photos in our replica Vietnamese living room

  • Be My Guest Pop-Up Portraits

    • Where friends and family gather to have special keepsake photos taken to commemorate the night

Our intent is to create digital archives of the stories, reflections and portrait exhibit so that they may be experienced by the community beyond event attendees.

Homeland Through Generations (Quê hương qua thế hệ), a Vietnamese-Edmonton Portrait Exhibit by Dawn Graves.

Event Photos

A selection of photos from our November 26 event, photographed by Emily Welz. Click to enlarge images.

Thank you to our event speakers!

Footage captured by Janice Saxon Photography.

New Wave Documentary Film Screening

Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau Co-Founders Linda Hoang and Jessica Truong address the theatre during the November 17, 2025 New Wave Documentary film screening event at NAIT Shaw Theatre. Photo by Dawn Graves.

Film Synopsis and Trailer

Mile-high hair. Synthesized sounds. Teenage rebellion. Filmmaker Elizabeth Ai was on a mission to capture the vibrant spirit of a musical phenomenon that electrified Vietnamese American teens in the 1980s: New Wave, until she uncovers a hidden past.

What begins as an exploration of the rebellion and freedom within this subculture evolves into a profound narrative of identity, loss, and healing. In Orange County, California, the synth beats and punk/goth aesthetics provided a sanctuary for a generation of youth grappling with the weight of their parents' unspoken traumas. 

As Elizabeth delves into the lives of her family members and icons of the New Wave scene, she discovers that beneath the surface lies a complex tapestry of broken dreams and unfulfilled expectations. These were not just fleeting moments of teenage rebellion but acts of defiance against the lingering shadows of the Vietnam War and the sacrifices made by a generation trying to rebuild. 

The film juxtaposes the memories of her uncles and aunts, sneaking out to underground clubs, with Elizabeth's own childhood, marked by her mother's abandonment. What starts as a celebration of a cultural movement transforms into a cathartic journey. 

As the filmmaker unravels long-buried emotions and confronts the generational wounds that have shaped her community, the film becomes a powerful exploration of cultural identity, resilience, and new beginnings.

A Moment from the Movie

Post-Film Panelists

  • Introduction by Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau Co-Founder Jessica Truong

  • Moderated by Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau Co-Founder Linda Hoang

  • Freya Fu, NAIT International and Intercultural Community Centre

  • Suzuanne Burwash, Edmonton Artist and FascinAsian Film Festival - Edmonton Organizer

  • Lan Chan-Marples, Historian, Researcher, Board Member of Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society

Panelists Linda Hoang, Freya Fu, Suzuanne Burwash, Lan Chan-Marples and Jessica Truong. Photo by Dawn Graves.

Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau is new Edmonton initiative aimed at building a community that explores our generational identity as Canadian children of immigrants, through shared stories, experiences, and events that bring the Vietnamese diaspora together.

Through Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau, we hope to give our community a place to reflect, to rediscover pride in our culture and heritage, and to build stronger connections between younger and older generations.

We are preserving the past, celebrating the present, and shaping a shared future—together.

Thank you to the Vietnamese-Edmonton community for embracing Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau.

We are feeling so inspired and eager to move this initiative forward!

Learn more about Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau
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Where We Came From (and where we go from here) - A Vietnamese-Edmonton Art, Food and Reflection Event - Nov 26, 2025