Sai Thao
“I am a little bit shocked because people like me don’t get recognized. I’m still in that shock state. This gift came right when I needed it the most.”
Sai Thao has been producing videos since she was 13 years old. She is Hmong American and resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For the past 30 years, Sai has produced experimental and documentary shorts and as a producer for public television and has made more than 10 video shorts exhibited throughout the US, Thailand, and Laos.
Sai is currently producing Hidden in My Heart, a 30-minute experimental documentary about grief trauma and the fragile bonds of family within her culture. She co-founded In Progress, a non-profit dedicated to building the voices of young artists from rural, tribal, and migrant communities through storytelling for the last 27 years.
When she learned about the Waterers, she connected them to her narrative through gardening. “Waterers are not only creating life, they are giving life and sustaining life. Seeing people from my community recognize my work is beautiful because it is rooted in building it. I appreciate how the Waterers are creating a “community giving back to the community’ cycle. I wish other foundations considered that process.”