The Donut King

Los Angeles has Winchell's, Krispy Creme and, a new infusion of Dunkin' Donuts outlets, but, the breakfast pastry business is still dominated locally by independent Cambodian bakers and entrepreneurs.

Alice Gu's entertaining Documentary traces the history of that development through the life of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee who was a General in his homeland who fled to America at the end of the Vietnam war. 'Uncle Ted' as he became to be known by his larger Cambodian family, started off with one shop and soon built a mini-empire when he sponsored dozens of his fellow refugees and helped them set up their own donut stores (taking a cut, of course).

It's a fascinating tale of the American dream come true (Bush Sr. Even awarded Ngoy a Presidential Award. Unfortunately, Ngoy had personal demons, including a gambling addiction and lost it all. Even with his personal downfall, the Cambodian community has continued to have a strong presence in the local donut market with generations following in the footsteps of Ngoy and his extended family's in the business.

Director Gu does a good job piecing together her story using documentary footage (and some animation) to fill in on the history of the Cambodian conflict. She does seem to soft-pedal some of the negative aspects of Ngoy's personal life. There seems to be more to the story which is more hinted at than is shown here. Still, a colorful tale of how a tight knit and rather small community has battled the big corporations and more than held its own.

Beautifully crafted, emotionally engaging, and filled in some of the blanks with my Cambodia in the 70s history. An Excellent Insight into an overlooked community. Powerful film that is certainly worth the 1.5 hour investment.

If you think this is about donuts, it is only half a story. Actually, it is more about life. Throughout all the ups and downs, there is peace in the end.

Most Asian people do not feel comfortable to wash their dirty laundry in front of others. This one indeed did that and even dug deeper. There are not many movies about Asian Americans' struggle and trimphone, This one has a well planted storyline and contents. To the end, I did not feel sorry for the donut king. He found peace in life and moved on. Life is the process itself. Most of time, we are too eager to get to the final and forget to enjoy the scenery on the way.

It is a nice film to watch without pretenses. I would recommend.

Who doesn't love donuts? I had great things about this and most docs are hit and miss. If you like donuts and immigrant stories, this is a must watch. Do yourself a favor and grab some donuts for when you watch this.

How a poor non english speaking refugee can come to AMerica and in a short time become very successful. Their secret? Family. Hard working family... The family all works together to achieve the success of all. The failure of the family structure in America (mainly due to massive welfare handouts by the government) has put being American-born a huge disadvantage . Being born an American is no longer an asset, but a disadvantage. Notice how all the small children pitched in and helped. None of them went looking for free handouts.