# Trinh T. Minh-ha Still Sets Her Own Rules – and Heads to ‘The Undying Desert’ in Her First Film Set in the U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/trinh-t-minh-ha-still-sets-her-own-rules-and-heads-to-the-undying-desert-in-her-first-film-set-in-the-u-s-exclusive/
- Published: 2026-10-30T21:44:06+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T22:14:32+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/global/trinh-t-minh-ha-the-undying-desert-jihlava-documentary-1236935274/
- Topics: Africa, Asia, Entertainment, Film, World

## Key points

- Minh-ha has completed her first film set in the United States.
- “The Undying Desert” draws on almost 20 years of filming.
- A follow-up film will explore a desert research site focused on Mars.

## Summary

Trinh T. Minh-ha has finished editing “The Undying Desert”, her first film set in the United States, after nearly two decades of filming in the Great Basin Desert. The work explores how people relate to the desert, challenging the idea that it is barren and considering its significance to Native American life and ways of seeing the world.

The film also reflects on why people seek out deserts as places to question familiar social rules and encounter themselves. Minh-ha has begun another Great Basin-set film with longtime collaborator Jean-Paul Bourdieu, about groups preparing for a possible journey to Mars. She says her films resist fixed categories such as fiction and documentary, and encourages filmmakers to set their own rules while taking responsibility for their choices.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.