Documentary is not an easy genre.
Its difficulty lies partly in history — in how theorists once divided the Lumière brothers and Méliès into binaries of truth versus illusion. That early distinction did not help; it trapped documentary in a definition it has since struggled to escape.
While many film festivals still separate documentary competitions from fiction, some are beginning to rethink this. At our own festival, Odyssey, all films — fiction and non-fiction alike — compete for the same awards. This approach is still rare, but it reflects our belief that storytelling transcends categories.
Vice is Broke (2024) is a deeply personal project — an independent investigation by Taiwanese-American comedian and filmmaker Eddie Huang.
The film grows out of his disappointment with VICE, the once-iconic magazine brand that shaped his youth, now fallen into both business and moral collapse. Huang interviews key figures, pieces together the story, and frames it through his own memories — a reflection on what VICE once stood for and what it has become.
The case of VICE opens into a broader reflection on our society: What is the true purpose of a cultural icon? How can it preserve meaning amid growth? Where lies the fragile balance between ambition and integrity?
This is not merely a debate about capitalism — it is about integrity itself. When do we, as humans, begin to lose it? And where exactly is that breaking line?
On screen, Huang also presents a life far removed from the European rhythm in which Private Waves — our new initiative — operates. Founded this year, Private Waves does not aspire to become an icon. Yet we hope it will grow, meaningfully, over time. Vice is Broke stands as a timeless reminder of what growth should never cost.
In his film, Huang captures a feeling that many of us recognise — the quiet sadness of being let down by something, or someone, we once admired with the pure eyes of a dreamer, too simple, too naïve.
Though we continue to dream on, in our own ways, creating our own paths.
Now streaming from MUBI.
