The King of Trash Returns to Bay Area With New Public Screenings and Final San Jose Red-Carpet Event
Strong audience response has prompted additional free screenings in Hayward, Dublin and Emeryville, giving more Bay Area communities an opportunity to experience the documentary on the big screen before a final VIP red-carpet pre-screening in San Jose.
After an eight-city screening journey that has brought together business leaders, community members, employees and families, The King of Trash is returning to the Bay Area for a final series of theater screenings this fall.
The additional dates come in response to continued interest from audiences who have asked for more opportunities to see the documentary on the big screen. Three free public screenings will be held in Hayward, Dublin and Emeryville, while San Jose will host the film’s final VIP pre-screening and the only remaining event to include a red-carpet reception.
At the center of The King of Trash is the story of David Duong and a Vietnamese refugee family whose history in business stretches across generations and countries. After losing nearly everything in Vietnam, the Duongs arrived in the United States and began again in San Francisco. Drawing on generations of experience in the recovered-paper trade, the family collected discarded cardboard and recyclable materials before eventually building businesses of their own in America.
That journey ultimately led David Duong and his family to establish California Waste Solutions, which grew from eight used trucks into a major Bay Area recycling company serving communities in Oakland and San Jose. The documentary traces the experiences behind California Waste Solutions and the family whose history helped shape the company: displacement, survival, entrepreneurship, family responsibility and a commitment to the communities where they live and work.
For audiences familiar with California Waste Solutions today, The King of Trash offers a look at the history behind the company. Long before its recycling trucks became a familiar presence on Bay Area streets, the Duong family was collecting discarded cardboard in San Francisco and rebuilding a trade it had already practiced across generations.
Those themes have helped the film connect with audiences well beyond the recycling industry.
A Screening Journey Built Around Community
Since its first screenings, The King of Trash has traveled through eight cities, with events bringing together business leaders, community organizations, California Waste Solutions employees, families and members of the Vietnamese American community.
For some viewers, the documentary offers a window into a refugee experience they may know little about. For others, particularly immigrant and refugee families, the story reflects experiences closer to their own: parents beginning again in an unfamiliar country, children growing up between generations, and businesses built not simply as enterprises but as sources of stability for entire families.
The film also places that immigrant experience within a broader American story. The Duongs arrived with little material wealth but with knowledge accumulated over generations in the recovered-paper trade. In San Francisco, discarded cardboard became one of the first resources they could turn into income. Those beginnings eventually led to California Waste Solutions, creating jobs and establishing a recycling operation that today serves communities across Oakland and San Jose.
Final VIP Red-Carpet Pre-Screening in San Jose
The King of Trash VIP Final Pre-Screening in San Jose
The San Jose event will be the only remaining screening to include a red-carpet reception. Guests will have an opportunity to experience the documentary in a theater and meet David Duong and members of the The King of Trash cast.
The return to San Jose also carries particular significance for California Waste Solutions. The Bay Area is where the Duong family rebuilt its life after arriving in the United States and where the business that eventually became California Waste Solutions took shape. Today, the company provides recycling services in San Jose and Oakland, making the communities represented at these final screenings part of the continuing story told in the film.
Three Additional Free Bay Area Screenings
To give more people an opportunity to experience the documentary, three additional screenings will be offered free to the public in Hayward, Dublin and Emeryville.
Unlike the San Jose event, these screenings will not include red-carpet receptions or related programming. Their purpose is straightforward: to make The King of Trash accessible to more Bay Area residents, including California Waste Solutions employees and their families, before the documentary moves toward broader distribution.
Hayward — September 12, 2026, 5:00–7:00 PM
Cinemark Century
1069 B St., Hayward, CA 94541
Dublin — September 19, 2026, 5:00–7:00 PM
Regal Hacienda Crossings
5000 Dublin Blvd., Dublin, CA 94568
Emeryville — October 3, 2026, 5:00– 7:00 PM
AMC Bay Street Emeryville5614 Bay St., Suite 220Emeryville, CA 94608
Together, the additional dates expand access across the East Bay and give audiences who were unable to attend earlier events another opportunity to experience the documentary in a theater.
One More Opportunity to Experience the Story Together
The expanded Bay Area screenings give the public and California Waste Solutions employees additional opportunities to see that history unfold on the big screen.
Eventually, broader distribution will allow The King of Trash to reach audiences beyond the cities included in its screening journey. For now, however, these final theater dates preserve something different: the opportunity to experience the documentary together, in many of the same Bay Area communities where the Duong family's American story unfolded and where California Waste Solutions operates today.
For Hayward, Dublin and Emeryville audiences, the screenings offer a free opportunity to discover the film. In San Jose, the final VIP red-carpet pre-screening will bring together business leaders, community members, supporters and California Waste Solutions employees for the final major event of the screening journey.
After eight cities and a strong response from audiences, The King of Trash is returning to Bay Area theaters so more people can experience the family story behind California Waste Solutions before the documentary begins its next chapter.
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