THOLIN

2026// AI SERIES // ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

THOLIN, an original series developed by Karim Youssef and Steven Quach.

Vietnam has stories that stretch back thousands of years: its history, folklore, language, and resilience deserve to exist alongside the futuristic worlds that inspired me growing up. Rather than imagining a future where culture disappears, Tholin imagines one where it evolves. A future where Vietnamese is still spoken in the streets, where old traditions live beneath neon lights, and where humanity remains more important than technology.

This series is a reminder that the most compelling science fiction isn't about machines; it's about people. Cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and futuristic cities are simply lenses to explore grief, identity, family, sacrifice, and the choices that define us. The technology may change, but the human experience does not.

At its core, Tholin is my way of contributing something I never had growing up: a cinematic science-fiction world where Vietnamese culture isn't the backdrop or the stereotype, it is the foundation. If someone watches this and, for the first time, feels that their language, their family, or their heritage belongs in the future, then the story has done what it was meant to do.