IT GOES WITHOUT ASKING | Hannah Hoang

“ It Goes Without Asking” is a generational love letter spanning three generations of women, rooted in a journey from Vietnam to San Bernardino, California. This story is about my bà ngoại, who lives with rheumatoid arthritis, which chronically affects her lower extremities. While filming in Westminster, California, at Phước Lộc Thọ, she spontaneously bought a toy wand from one of the vendors at the night market. Though she usually relies on her wheelchair, she spent the rest of the evening walking through the market, with her toy wand in hand. It felt as though she suddenly had magical powers, and she moved with a freedom I hadn’t seen in years. In that fleeting moment, I witnessed her resilience, and her condition no longer held power over us.”

Hannah Hoang is a Vietnamese-American filmmaker. Hoang is interested in telling stories rooted in heritage, coming of age and the human condition. She believes storytelling offers a meaningful pathway in medicine, one that fosters empathy and centers the patient care experience. Her projects have premiered at Festival de Cannes, Tribeca, HollyShorts, and LA Shorts, with features on Variety and Panavision. She is a creative team member at WDA Entertainment, a 2025 Activate Impact Initiative grant recipient at Women in Media, and a 2025 Storytelling and Medicine scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine. Hoang is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she studied biology and film. She plans on applying to medical school.