Khoa Do, the young director of the critically acclaimed film "The Finished People" has been named "The Young Australian of the Year".

As a writer, director, actor and teacher he has carved an impressive niche for himself in the Australian film industry. As a two-year-old, Khoa left Vietnam on a fishing boat with his parents. Khoa and his family arrived in Sydney and based themselves in Bankstown.

While he explored his love for theatre, film, and comedy, Khoa worked as an English teacher and job-seeking-skills volunteer among youth living on the streets of Cabramatta.

In 2001, Khoa was nominated for an AFI Award for his screen play for the short film Delivery Day.

A year later, Khoa commenced voluntary work with disadvantaged kids at Cabramatta's Open Family Welfare Centre. He was asked to teach film-making to these ?at risk' youth and saw no better way to teach them than to go ahead and make a film with them.

A script was developed based on the experiences of those in the class including drug addiction,homelessness and crime, with all the major cast members first time actors. The end result is the now the internationally acclaimed film, "The Finished People" which was released by Madman/AV Channel in 2004 on DVD, after a successful theatrical season.

Madman/AV Channel take this opportunity to congratulate Khoa Do on this significant acheivement and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.

Praise for 'The Finished People'

"Few films deserve to be
called "important", this one does."
(4 stars) EMPIRE Magazine

'The Finished People is not only the best Australian film of the year; it's the best in many years.' Brisbane News

'One of the most important Australian films of the past few years, The Finished People is a work that should change lives.' The Sunday Telegraph

'A totally engrossing, heartfelt and immediate movie experience that needs to be seen'. Filmink Magazine