Trinh T. Minh-ha Wraps First U.S.-Set Film, The Undying Desert
The filmmaker said at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival that editing is complete on the Great Basin Desert project and that a Mars research film is underway.
Filmmaker, writer and theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha said she has finished editing her upcoming film The Undying Desert, which she described as her first film set in the United States. She spoke about the project on October 30, 2026, at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, where a retrospective of her work is being held, according to Variety.
She shot footage for The Undying Desert in the Great Basin Desert over a period of almost two decades. The film examines people's relationship with the desert and is closely related to the way of life of indigenous people, especially Native Americans.
Minh-ha said she has also begun work on another film, co-directed with her longtime collaborator Jean-Paul Bourdieu. It is likewise set in the Great Basin Desert and follows groups who turn the location into a research center for Mars.
Her filmography includes works made in Africa, China, Vietnam and Japan before this U.S.-set project, among them Forgetting Vietnam, Surname Viet Given Name Nam, Reassemblage and What About China?.
Quick answers
What is Trinh T. Minh-ha's new film about?
The Undying Desert examines people's relationship with the desert and is closely related to the way of life of indigenous people, especially Native Americans. It was shot in the Great Basin Desert over almost two decades.
Where did Trinh T. Minh-ha discuss the film?
She spoke about the project at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, where a retrospective of her work is being held.
What is her next project?
A film co-directed with Jean-Paul Bourdieu, set in the Great Basin Desert, about groups who turn the location into a research center for Mars.