At the heart of the story is Ted Ngoy, born Bun Tek Ngoy in 1941 Cambodia. At 74, he is full of energy and smiling broadly. Production company: Logan Content Pertinent statistics are drowned out by an electronica score and the rattling of skateboard wheels in an early montage, and the film's summary of the history of Cambodia as a battleground in the Vietnam War and the takeover of the Khmer Rouge thereafter might only make sense to those who come to the doc already knowledgeable about that period. His story is one of love, hard knocks, survival, and redemption. Ted Ngoy came to America in 1975 after fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Ted and the other interviewees explain how the donut king expanded his empire by providing opportunities to fellow Cambodian families as they established new lives in America. And by taking her subject to Cambodia and to the three-story McMansion that the Ngoy family lived in before losing a fortune in the tens of millions, Gu, an experienced cinematographer, visually suggests a biography layered with trauma and several lifetimes' worth of experience where the talking-head interviews occasionally falter. Inkoo Kang "[1], After the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy returned to Cambodia for the country's first elections. By 1987, Ngoy owned 32 Christy's Donuts locations, largely accomplished by living out of a motorhome allowing him and his family to travel up and down the state of California establishing new locations. Sitemap | FACEBOOK Following his time in the nation's capital, Ngoy spent time in a monastery in the Thai countryside where he spent his morning begging for alms. In four years, Ted built a multi-million-dollar business baking donuts and helped bring hundreds of other refugees seeking safety to America. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. By 2005, after a failed political career in Cambodia, Ngoy was penniless and living on the porch of a fellow Parkcrest Christian Church parishioner's mobile home. The rags to riches story of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee arriving in America in 1975 and building a multi-million-dollar empire baking America's favorite pastry, the donut. 3:46 PM PDT 3/30/2020 The spry, charming Ngoy makes for a surprisingly guileless presence despite his obvious wish to burnish his legacy. At the airport, Ted Ngoy slaps my shoulder and pumps my hand vigorously. The Donut King (DVD) : The rags to riches story of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee arriving in America in 1975 and building a multi-million-dollar empire baking America's favorite pastry, the donut. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. by (Every country has its donut.) Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. PeopleFinders is the best people search for finding people and public records. is a documentary about the life and times of Ted Ngoy. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in the real estate business. He did not fare well in either the 1993 or 1998 parliamentary elections, but his friend, Prime Minister Hun Sen, made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. [7][3], Ngoy's fortunes improved dramatically, such that by the mid-1980s Ngoy had amassed millions of dollars through his expanding doughnut shop empire, reported as 50 locations throughout California. Though seldom traditionally gorgeous, The Donut King is strikingly inventive and image-centric, with animated sequences in place of (most) recreations and an unofficial tour of Southern California's many immigrant-owned donut shops via skateboard. The life story of Ted Ngoy makes for a perfect Bollywood/Hollywood flick. Ted Ngoy, Self: The Donut King. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. Editor: Carol Martori One night, Ngoy devised a plan to sneak into the heavily guarded mansion that housed Suganthini, allowing the couple to meet for the first time. After cry, go back gambling." [1], When his wife returned to California for the birthday of a grandchild in 1999, Ngoy began an affair with a young woman, serving as the final straw between him and his wife, Christy. [8], Military Career and Immigration to the United States, "Rise and fall of Cambodian refugee 'Donut King' charted in award-winning film", http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/19/local/me-donutking19, "The story of the man they called the doughnut king", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ted_Ngoy&oldid=991486239, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 November 2020, at 09:04. Director: Alice Gu AdChoices It's an improbable achievement, and each biographical detail that we get from Gu's film underscores just how unlikely Ngoy's entire life has been, from his innovation of carnation pink as. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on Ted Ngoy's story is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. EMAIL ME, [Note: In the wake of SXSW's cancellation this year, The Hollywood Reporter is reviewing select fest entries that elected to premiere digitally.]. In a final segment, Gu chronicles how the American-raised children are updating their parents' donut shops for the social-media age and reutilizing them to anchor neighborhoods. [5] Genre: Documentary ... A wonderful dark tale of coming of age in a country in transformation - then Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) in 1990s. Ngoy spent a total of 45 days in the mansion before being discovered by Suganthini's parents and subsequently kicked out. The Donut King (DVD) : The rags to riches story of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee arriving in America in 1975 and building a multi-million-dollar empire baking America's favorite pastry, the donut. Through the maneuvering of his brother-in-law, chief of police and briefly future president of Cambodia, Sak Sutsakhan, Ngoy was promoted to the rank of major and appointed military attache at Cambodia's embassy in Thailand. Sponsored by a Lutheran church in Orange County, he changed his first name because no one could pronounce it and, at 33 years of age, found a nighttime job pumping gas in … [4], Despite the wealth he had amassed and his importance within his community, Ngoy felt dissatisfied, remarking that he had "No political life, no religious life, just work, work. {"nid":"1284529","type":"post","title":"SXSW Revives Film Competition Digitally After Festival Cancellation","relative_path":"\/news\/sxsw-revives-film-competition-digitally-festival-cancellation-1284529","media":{"width":1296,"height":730,"extension":"jpg","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","path":"https:\/\/static.hollywoodreporter.com\/sites\/default\/files\/2020\/03\/sxsw_2020_banners_-_getty_-_h_2020_-compressed.jpg","sizes":[{"path":"https:\/\/static.hollywoodreporter.com\/sites\/default\/files\/2020\/03\/sxsw_2020_banners_-_getty_-_h_2020_-compressed.jpg","width":1296,"height":730},{"path":"https:\/\/static.hollywoodreporter.com\/sites\/default\/files\/2020\/03\/sxsw_2020_banners_-_getty_-_h_2020_-compressed.jpg","width":1296,"height":730}],"orientation":"landscape","id":"3968614","caption":null,"credit":null}}. Khoeun's parents denied Ngoy's suitability as a mate for their daughter due to his lower social class, and instructed Ngoy to break off the relationship with Suganthini at a relative's home. All rights reserved. Outside, he introduces me to his new girlfriend, Sreypov, a beautiful 19-year-old woman with voluminous dark hair. The couple were wed shortly after and had three children. Weaving together two histories hidden in plain sight, the film is a heartwarming yet three-dimensional portrait of a man who lifted hundreds of his shell-shocked countrymen out of poverty and despair, but was later consumed by his own maniacal ambition and zeal. Running Time (minutes): 94. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. The two eventually began a secret correspondence via letters delivered by the Khoeun family maid. The totally surprising and extraordinary roller coast life of Ted Ngoy is the stuff of a good movie drama ….. except that this is a documentary of his almost unbelievable real life.. A word of warning here, before you start to stream Alice Gu‘s wee film, go grab yourself a box of donuts, as her film has you gasping to eat more than a few.. Combined with the archival footage of Democratic and Republican presidents alike embracing immigrants and refugees, The Donut King is an undeniably moving portrayal of how America, in providing a home to desperate exiles, has been in turn rewarded for its generosity of spirit. Bush and encouraged fellow Cambodian immigrants to support the GOP. Mayly Tao, Owner of DK's Donuts & Bakery + Donut Princess LA, joins Jerry to chat about her childhood growing up the daughter of Cambodian immigrants in … Find contact info for Ted Ngoy - phone number, address, email. His story is one of love, hard knocks, survival, and redemption. In 1975, Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy (a former high ranking member of the military) fled his homeland and the violent genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. The titular donut king is 77-year-old Ted Ngoy, who has attained mythic status among many Cambodian Americans in Los Angeles and Orange County since his arrival in … Upon his return to Orange County, Ngoy began gambling harder than ever stating "Monks cannot help me, Buddha cannot help me. One of the timeliest stories of 2020, it turns out, is how the Cambodian refugee community took over the Southern California donut industry from the 1980s on. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. You get the sense that a man with Ngoy's restless enterprise and financial savvy would have been a runaway success at any place and time. © 2021 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. [1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. The nonfiction jury at this year's (canceled) SXSW Film Festival must have felt the same, as it gave first-time director Alice Gu's. In a final segment, Gu chronicles how the American-raised children are updating their parents' donut shops for the social-media age and reutilizing them to anchor neighborhoods. Producers: Jose Nunez, Alice Gu, Farhad Amid, Tom Moran She divorced him soon after and has not since returned to Cambodia. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. “isn’t all sweet but it is a treat.” Thursday, November 19th, 2020. "The Donut King" (2020 release; 90 min.) He saw an opportunity to expand his business and help the large number of poor, unassimilated Cambodians who had fled the Khmer Rouge to the United States. Cinematographer: Alice Gu The Donut King (DVD) : The rags to riches story of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee arriving in America in 1975 and building a multi-million-dollar empire baking America's favorite pastry, the donut. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. The least the rest of us can do is make America welcoming again. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. The least the rest of us can do is make America welcoming again. | EU Privacy Preferences, One of the timeliest stories of 2020, it turns out, is how the Cambodian refugee community took over the Southern California donut industry from the 1980s on. Ngoy also involved himself in American politics, joining the Republican Party and hosting fundraisers for George H.W. [3], Ngoy worked at various jobs, including as a travel agent and tour guide, before joining the military in 1970. He subsequently received training through an affirmative action program to increase minority hiring within the Winchell's chain of doughnut shops, and managed a store in Newport Beach where he employed his wife and nephew. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the Blackjack tables. COVID-19 has forced film distributors to get creative. While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local doughnut shop and inquired of its operators about learning the business. His story is one of love, hard knocks, survival, and redemption. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. Suganthini's parents and cousins hid behind curtains in the home to ensure Ngoy would break off the relationship. 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