At 24, Thien Minh Ly was the oldest child of a family of first-generation immigrants from Vietnam. A successful student, he held degrees from Georgetown University and UCLA, where he headed the Vietnamese Student Association. His promising future was cut short when he was fatally stabbed -- the victim of a hate crime -- by two men in Los Angeles in January 1996.

Thien's story and that of the legacy he left behind, as well as the suffering endured by his family, are the subject of a documentary by Cornell senior film major Trac Minh Vu. The documentary, Letters to Thien, will be screened May 11 at 7:30 p.m. in Willard Straight Hall, along with other films from students in the Advanced Film and Video Projects class.

"I was outraged by the crime," said Vu. "Being Vietnamese myself, it was sort of like losing a brother. I feel a very personal connection to him and his life; we were very similar in many ways."

The documentary, which was shot on videotape and runs approximately 40 minutes, brings Thien to life through letters written to him by his friends after he was killed. "He was a jokester, the life of the party, but also a model student and citizen who wanted to give back to the community," Vu said. "Thien had plans to attend law school and return to Vietnam so he could help change the legal system there.

"His family is coping remarkably well," said Vu, who spent his spring break in Los Angeles with his film crew interviewing family members. "But one can very easily see how Thien continues to have an effect on his friends and family and how he lives on through them, especially in his younger brother, who has begun to realize the life lessons his slain brother taught him."

Two individuals have been arrested for Thien's murder; one already has been found guilty and faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

The documentary will be seen by more than just Cornell audiences. Civic organizations and others from around the United States have expressed interest in screening it.

Vu received $3,000 from the Melville Shavelson Film Award program to defray production costs of the documentary. Shavelson, a Cornell alumnus of the Class of '37, is a Hollywood screenwriter and has been nominated twice for the original screenplay Oscar for the films The Seven Little Foys and Houseboat.

Marilyn Rivchin, senior film lecturer and a member of the awards committee, said Vu's documentary proposal, with its poignant content and thoroughness, made it a project well worth supporting.

Michael Tamburro, a senior electrical engineering major, received a $1,000 grant from the Shavelson Film Award program for his film Soup Deja Vu, which explores issues of perception and continuity in film.

Also being shown May 11, along with Letters to Thien and Soup Deja Vu, are King's Highway by Josh Fagin; Dullsville, USA by Arun Chaudhary; Kool by Mark Cheng; and The Summer Man by Chris Spurgin.