An Upstate production company received some big news: Undercurrent Film Company was nominated for a 2024 James Beard Media Award for its documentary short “Great Wall.”
The film clocks in at just 22 minutes and follows Khailing Neoh’s journey to open the downtown Greenville restaurant Sum Bar. Neoh is also named a producer of the film.
It was the brainchild of Rioin Oshiro who directed the film along with producer Evan Rogers. Oshiro met Neoh eating dinner at a friend’s house and was drawn to her story of exiting a career in engineering to bring dim sum to Greenville.
“I was born and raised on the island of Guam where food plays a big role in our island’s culture. It has the power to tell a story and bring community together,” Oshiro said. “Khailing and I actually first met over a meal and through that bringing together of community is how the ideation of this film came to be.”
“Great Wall” is Undercurrent’s first documentary. Most days they can be found creating branded video content for area businesses. The film was well received earlier this year and is available to stream on Vimeo. It documents the rigors of opening a new restaurant in a highly competitive landscape, while also exploring the adult relationship of first-generation Americans and their immigrant parents.
Neoh was surprised by the nomination and excited for the team.
“We are thrilled our friends at Undercurrent Film are being recognized by The James Beard Foundation. Their talents are only rivaled by their love for food and storytelling,” she said. “I’m grateful to have been a part of this project; and blown away by their patience and understanding with how sensitive these topics are for me.”
The nomination is in the category Visual Media-Short Form, part the James Beard Foundation’s Broadcast Media Awards. It recognizes “excellence in a food-related video production broadcast, streamed, accessed online, or through an app, up to 30 minutes in length.”
Great Wall will have some stiff competition come awards night on June 8 in Chicago. The CBS Sunday Morning show is also a finalist for their segment “Remembrance: Recreating a Jewish family’s recipes,” as well as the La Mafia channel on YouTube for their popular video series “Caminante.”
For his part, Oshiro called the nomination a huge honor and said the recognition by the James Beard Foundation helps small companies like his continue to tell stories about the region.
This story was filed as part of an editorial partnership between South Carolina Public Radio and the Greenville Journal, which is responsible for its content. You can learn more about the Greenville Journal here.