In Waves
Some things arrive in waves: sunlight, joy, the pounding surf, but also loss and grief. Director Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated adaptation of AJ Dungo’s award-winning 2019 graphic novel unfolds as a story of young love between two teenagers: AJ, a shy skateboarder and aspiring artist (voiced by Will Sharpe), and Kristen (Stephanie Hsu), a self-confident surfer. The usual fears of parental reproach and peer pressure challenge their growing intimacy that is further tested by the emergence of a life-threatening illness. Nguyen’s exquisite visual sensibility is on display on multiple levels: through the vibrant colors of present-day SoCal life, the black-and-white line drawings from AJ’s sketchbooks, and the soft tones of an imagined past life among a group of native Hawai’ians living at the water’s edge. A soundtrack from French composers Oklou and ROB beautifully complements the imagery to an exquisitely indelible effect. —KD Davis
Director/s
Phuong Mai Nguyen
A native of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and a graduate of the Gobelins School and La Poudrière, Phuong Mai Nguyen makes her feature debut with In Waves (2026). Her short films include The End (2012) and Chez moi (2014).
Expected Guests
AJ DUNGO: Author of Original Work
Tickets
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