The history of the Vietnamese-American nail salon is inextricably linked to 20 refugee women who were the beneficiaries of Tippi Hedren’s kindness.

The history of the Vietnamese-American nail salon is inextricably linked to 20 refugee women who were the beneficiaries of Tippi Hedren’s kindness.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Adele Pham, the documentary Nailed It explores the history of the Vietnamese-American nail salon from its earliest days and tells the tale of how a chance encounter in 1975 between 20 female Vietnamese refugees and actress Tippi Hedren changed the face of the industry. The film is tentatively scheduled to air on PBS’s America Reframed on May 7. (Check local airdates at www.pbs.org/show/america-reframed.)

Told through personal stories and interviews, the film is intended to capture the “unforgettable and often hilarious saga born of tragedy” involving the struggle to assimilate and grapple with stereotypes. The film celebrates these female entrepreneurial pioneers who successfully built careers for themselves while simultaneously learning a new language, culture, and land, as refugees from the Vietnam War living in the United States.

You can view a trailer at www.naileditdoc.com.

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