Khoa Do
- Film director
- Screenwriter
- Speaker
- Philanthropist
Khoa Do (Vietnamese: Đỗ Khoa, pronounced [ɗǒwˀ kʰʷāː] ⓘ), is a Vietnamese-born Australian film director, screenwriter, and philanthropist. He received the Young Australian of the Year Award in 2005.
Early life and family
The Do family left Vietnam in 1980 as Vietnamese refugees, fleeing Saigon by boat. At the age of 19 months, Khoa narrowly escaped death at the hands of Thai pirates.[1] They arrived in Sydney in August 1980.
Khoa Do received a scholarship to attend St Aloysius' College in Milsons Point, graduating in 1996. He studied Law and Arts at the University of Sydney.[citation needed]
His brother is the comedian/author Anh Do. His mother Hien, played the role of Van Nguyen's mother, Kim, in Better Man (2013), a film which he produced.[2]
Philanthropy
Khoa Do has been active in helping the under-privileged in South Western Sydney, especially the Vietnamese community. While at university he worked as an English teacher and job-seeking-skills volunteer among the youth living in Cabramatta. In 2006, Do commenced voluntary work with disadvantaged kids at Cabramatta's Open Family Youth Social Services Centre, after being asked to teach film-making to "at risk" youths.[citation needed]
Recognition and awards
- 2001 Young Citizen of the Year Award (City of Bankstown)[citation needed]
- 2003 – Centenary Medal[citation needed]
- 2005 – Do was named Young Australian of the Year for his "leadership, compassion, and will to inspire and inform Australians on issues that affect our communities".[3]
Film industry awards
- 2001 – Nominated for an AFI Award for his screen play for the short film Delivery Day
- 2003 – IF Independent Spirit Award for The Finished People
- 2004 – Nominated for two AFI Awards, three Film Critics' Circle Awards and two Australian Writers' Guild Awards for this film and for his community theatre
- 2005 – Powerhouse Wizard Award, which "recognises emerging leaders in Australian innovation and achievement".
- 2008 – Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award.
- 2009 – DIGISPAA award for his film Missing Water (later released as Mother Fish), and also received the CRC Award for the same film at the Sydney Film Festival. For the same film he has subsequently won prizes at the Orlando Film Festival, Canada International Film Festival and Vietnamese International Film Festival.
Selected filmography
- The Diamond of Jeru (2001, TV)
- The Finished People (2003)
- Footy Legends (2006)
- Delivery Day (2009) – tells the story of a young girl and her struggle to balance the demands of school, her mother and the family's backyard sweatshop and is heavily based on Do's own experience.
- Mother Fish (2010)
- Better Man (2013)
- Schapelle (2014)
References
- ^ "No laughing matter". Steve Dow. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ David Wenham proud of Better Man's message, TV Tonight, 30 July 2013
- ^ "Khoa Do". National Australia Day Council. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Khoa Do at IMDb
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Hugh Evans | Young Australian of the Year 2005 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- 1979 Julie Sochacki
- 1980 Peter Hill
- 1981 Paul Radley
- 1982 Mark Ella
- 1983 Michael Waldock
- 1984 Jon Sieben
- 1985 Deahnne McIntyre
- 1986 Simone Young
- 1987 Marty Gauvin
- 1988 Duncan Armstrong
- 1989 Brendan Borellini
- 1990 Cathy Freeman
- 1991 Simon Fairweather
- 1992 Kieren Perkins
- 1993 no award
- 1994 Anna Bown
- 1995 Poppy King
- 1996 Rebecca Chambers
- 1997 Nova Peris
- 1998 Tan Le
- 1999 Bryan Gaensler
- 2000 Ian Thorpe
- 2001 James Fitzpatrick
- 2002 Scott Hocknull
- 2003 Lleyton Hewitt
- 2004 Hugh Evans
- 2005 Khoa Do
- 2006 Trisha Broadbridge
- 2007 Tania Major
- 2008 Casey Stoner
- 2009 Jonty Bush
- 2010 Mark Donaldson
- 2011 Jessica Watson
- 2012 Marita Cheng
- 2013 Akram Azimi
- 2014 Jacqueline Freney
- 2015 Drisana Levitzke-Gray
- 2016 Nic Marchesi & Lucas Patchett
- 2017 Paul Vasileff
- 2018 Sam Kerr
- 2019 Baker Boy
- 2020 Ashleigh Barty
- 2021 Isobel Marshall
- 2022 Daniel Nour
- 2023 Awer Mabil
- 2024 Emma McKeon