America loves its unexpected heroines - the women who become the lightening rod that calls attention to wrong doings - the Norma Raes and Erin Brockoviches of our times - the women who unintentionally have found themselves at the center of movements to protect the health and welfare of all Americans. And now Van Hoang joins their ranks. A Vietnamese immigrant and nail salon owner in the blue-collar, Mission District of San Francisco, Van sees her American dream begin to crumble with the discovery that her health problems, which include two heartbreaking miscarriages, are the result of the toxic chemicals in products used in her salon. PAINTED NAILS follows Van as she unintentionally becomes involved in the national fight for safe cosmetics, an industry that has had no oversight or legislation for safety since 1938. In a well-told and beautifully crafted film, viewers will cheer the shy Van on as she becomes a key catalyst in the fight to bring reform to an $8.54 billion industry that touches the lives of nearly every woman in America.
