With “The Donut King,” director Alice Gu hopes to “challenge any preconceived notions of what a refugee is, or looks like, and that the film helps put a human face on refugees and their potential, if given the chance.” The documentary tells the story of Ted Ngoy, AKA the Donut King, a Cambodian refugee who arrived in America in the ’70s with nothing and built a donut empire in Los Angeles. He opened up 70 donut shops, and at one point his wealth was estimated at $20 million. President George H. W. Bush flew from the White House to give him a Presidential Award for “achieving the American dream.”
But the “Donut King” isn’t just Ngoy’s unlikely success story. After defying incredible odds and escaping the Khmer Rouge, arriving in the U.S. penniless and becoming a multi-millionaire within three years, Ngoy wanted to give other Cambodians a shot at the American Dream: he sponsored over 100 immigrant families. He also taught them how to bake donuts and helped jumpstart their businesses. Cambodian donut shops took over LA, outnumbering even Dunkin’ Donuts.
Ngoy was far from the perfect man, and “The Donut King” doesn’t shy away from his checkered past and complicated legacy. He developed a gambling addiction that cost him plenty besides his fortune.
The doc’s main focus is charting Ngoy’s rise and fall, but it also explores Cambodian history, what it was like for Ngoy, his wife, and kids to move to a wholly unfamiliar country, and the evolution of donut culture.
“The Donut King” is now screening in select theaters and virtual cinemas.
