Precision-crafted and visually gripping, Ice Cold Ricky delivers raw emotion with striking cinematic control.
We are thrilled to announce that Ice Cold Ricky by Juwan Chung has been awarded the Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) at the Winter 2024/2025 season of Cal Film Festival.
This tense, emotionally layered 22-minute short digs deep into the psyche of a man teetering on the edge of colapse. At the center of the film is Ricky, a low-level drug dealer trying to claw his way out of the life. His motivation is simple but devastating: he wants to visit his girlfriend in rehab. But the past isn’t done with him yet. He’s pressured to deliver five kilos of cocaine to a dangerous client, pulling him deeper into a criminal world he’s desperate to escape.
Chung directs with surgical precision, crafting a story that wastes no time. There’s a raw, street-level authenticity in every scene, bolstered by a strong visual sensibility and restrained but effective pacing. The film doesn’t glamorize Ricky’s world—it suffocates with it, drawing viewers into a moral quicksand with no easy exits.
David Huynh’s electric performance in the lead role strengthens Ice Cold Ricky in a very particular way. He delivers a character study that bristles with urgency and inner conflict. Huynh doesn’t just play Ricky—he inhabits him, embodying a man whose vulnerability is weaponized by circumstance. It’s the kind of performance that commands attention, not just for its emotional heft, but for its sheer presence. His portrayal feels lived-in, as if Ricky has been walking among us long before the cameras started rolling.
Juwan Chung, a Los Angeles native, began his creative journey studying fine arts at Boston University before turning to filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Early experience at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Center helped shape his industry insight, but it was back in L.A. that Chung found his voice as a filmmaker. He made his feature debut at just 23 with Cake (2001), and later gained festival acclaim with Baby (2007), a gritty exploration of Asian gang life in Los Angeles. Chung’s storytelling blends raw crime narratives with sharp humor, grounded in the lived realities of his hometown.
The film’s recognition at Cal Film Festival caps a strong run across the indie circuit, and it’s easy to see why. Ice Cold Ricky is both a thrilling character piece and a searing commentary on the traps we build for ourselves—and the desperate hope it takes to try and break free.
Juwan Chung has crafted something lean, potent, and undeniably affecting. It’s the kind of short that punches far above its weight—and leaves a bruise you won’t soon forget.
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