For over a year, most news about David Duong has focused on the federal anti-corruption investigation that threatens to send him and his son to prison. But this weekend, Duong was firmly in control of the narrative, and he was determined to make it a positive one. 

Duong, his son Andy, and scores of family members, friends, and powerful supporters crowded Oakland’s Regal Jack London theater on Saturday to see “The King of Trash,” a new documentary that chronicles how the Duongs lost everything and then rose from impoverished refugees to become the owners of an international trash and recycling empire headquartered in Oakland.  

The movie opens with archival footage of American soldiers and bombers spraying the Vietnamese countryside with munitions. The Duongs were among Vietnam’s wealthy elite. David Duong’s father owned the largest paper mill in the nation. When the North Vietnamese communists overtook the south, they expropriated the mill and the family’s other assets. 

In the night, their parents secreted Duong and his siblings to a rickety boat and fled the new government — an act that David claims nearly cost them their lives. From there, they endured hardships in a Philippine refugee camp and then a cramped San Francisco apartment, where they sometimes ate food from the trash they collected because they were so poor. But through hard work and determination, Duong explains how they were able to rebuild. 

According to the film, they started with a $700 investment in a truck to haul cardboard and other recyclables. Then they bought other trucks. Next, they expanded into finance, making loans to other immigrants so they could start their own recycling operations. 

This all grew into a family-owned company, which they later sold. But Duong and his siblings wanted to continue, so they incorporated California Waste Solutions and, in 1991, secured their first contract with Oakland. Much bigger contracts with Oakland and San Jose followed. In the early 2000s, Duong returned to Vietnam to establish Vietnam Waste Solutions. This company now services the largest landfill in Ho Chi Minh City, and Duong says its operations are far bigger than anything the family operates in the United States. 

To underscore their ascendence, Duong shared that his family wants to take their company public, which would open the door to major capital investments and greater business opportunities. 

They have big hopes for their movie, too. While the film is only being screened at private events in the Bay Area and Sacramento, they announced they are trying to get it picked up by Netflix or another streaming service.

Recent legal troubles in the form of corruption allegations didn’t make the final cut
Andy Duong attends a screening of “The King Of Trash” at Regal Jack London in Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside.

One notable tribulation missing from the movie is the federal indictments of David and Andy. A year ago, prosecutors announced charges against both men for allegedly paying $95,000 in bribes to the former mayor of Oakland, Sheng Thao, and her partner, Andre Jones. According to the feds, the bribes were paid to gain favors for their company, California Waste Solutions. They also allegedly hoped to secure a lucrative contract for a housing company they started called Evolutionary Homes, and to get their say in appointing high-level city officials. 

David and Andy have pleaded not guilty to the charges and recently filed motions criticizing the FBI’s investigation, especially the reliance on a key informant who appears to be local businessman Mario Juarez.

Standing on a red carpet in the Regal’s lobby after the film showing, Duong told reporters that he wouldn’t answer any questions about the charges. 

“We trust the American justice system, and we trust in our court system, and we’re waiting for the result of that,” he said.

However, Duong did want to clear up questions about the timing of his documentary. It’s true the family started making the movie in mid-2024, shortly after federal agents raided David and Andy’s home and the headquarters of California Waste Solutions. But Duong said they started the movie at that time to honor his mother, who was in poor health and passed away in the summer of 2024. Part of the film shows David, his siblings, and other family members comforting their mother in the hospital before her death.

“We don’t think this has anything to do with legal (case), and we never thought of that,” said Duong.

The film, financed by the Duong family, cost roughly $500,000 to produce. It includes a detailed recreation of their escape from Vietnam, plus interviews with David’s siblings, Kristina and Victor, and employees at CWS and their overseas company, Vietnam Waste Solutions.

Director Errol Webber, center, talks with movie goers during a screening of “The King Of Trash” at Regal Jack London in Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside.

Erroll Weber, a Los Angeles documentarian and former Republican congressional candidate, directed the film. 

According to Webber, an associate contacted him about the idea of making a film about the Duongs in mid-2024, and he began having conversations with the family in July. Webber, who refused to identify the associate who put him in touch with the family, said he wasn’t aware of the federal anti-corruption case until after joining the project.

Webber said the Duong family has been interested in making a documentary for many years, and that the timing of production was meant to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which happened last year.

Asked why the film omitted mention of the raids or indictment, Webber said, “it’s an open case,” but he noted that there’s an opportunity to address this aspect of the family’s story once the case is closed. He added that David Duong is interested in writing a book. 

Former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris and former San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee were among the important allies who attended the screening
Elihu Harris, center, attends a screening of “The King Of Trash” at Regal Jack London in Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside.

Several politicos from around the Bay Area attended the gala screening, including former San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee and a staffer who served under former Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid. But the most influential figure in the theater was former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, whom David Duong thanked in an emotional speech after the film. 

Duong credited Harris with encouraging him to go back to Vietnam to reestablish relations with the country. He also said Harris and former Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid, when he was an assistant to Harris, helped the Duong family land its first public sector contract.

“You care about Oakland, you care about minorities in Oakland, and you have listened to us, and you have opened your door for us, that help us grow to our business,” Duong said to Harris during a few speeches just after the film credits.

Harris, who served as a member of the California State Assembly, then as mayor of Oakland through the 1990s, told the audience that he first learned about the Duong family through Reid.

According to Harris, Reid called them “a very interesting, energetic, entrepreneurial family.” Harris met with the Duongs and was impressed by their operation in West Oakland, which was providing opportunities to people living on the margins.

This marked the start of a long and fruitful relationship between Harris, Reid, and the Duong family.

With Harris and Reid’s help, Duong secured his family’s first public sector recycling contract in Oakland in the early 1990s. In 1997, the City Council renewed its agreement for another five years. During that same period, Duong, Harris, and Reid traveled to Ho Chi Minh City as part of a delegation that hoped to persuade Vietnamese officials to use the Port of Oakland if the United States lifted the trade embargo between the countries. In 1998, when CWS workers went on strike, Reid and Harris mediated.

Duong helped his friends, too. Between 1994 and 1998, Duong gave $25,000 to the political campaigns of Harris, Reid, and other Oakland politicos, according to campaign finance records. Duong told reporters that California Waste Solutions also later hired Harris’ spouse at the time, Kathy Neal, to help put together a bidding package for a business deal in Vietnam.

The Duongs grew close to Reid, especially. In 1998, Reid told reporters that David is like a brother to him and that he is the godfather to David Duong’s three children. That included Andy, who referred to Reid as “my legendary uncle” on Instagram.

During Saturday’s event, Harris also gave a shout-out to a man sitting next to him in the audience, CC Yin, who he said used to operate a McDonald’s on 62nd Avenue and McArthur. After Yin called Harris to complain about being robbed, Harris said he sent a policeman to help secure his business. According to Harris, Yin later sold his restaurant to the same officer. Now, Yin “owns almost every McDonald’s from Vallejo to Sacramento,” Harris said.

Yin also founded a political organization to support Asian Americans in California politics, which Harris said established him as “the godfather of Asian politics in California.” And in 2024, Yin provided the largest contribution to Sheng Thao’s legal defense fund, $5,000.

“I tell you that story because people give back, you have to contribute to people to encourage them, but also that they become a model for others to succeed and to contribute to community,” Harris said. 

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