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POETIC REALITIES - A SERIES OF SHORT VIETNAMESE DOCUMENTARIES
Featuring works by Phạm Thị Hảo, Nguyễn Phương Thảo, Nguyễn Hồng Quân, Nguyễn Duy Anh, Linh San, Đỗ Hà Lan
Is reality singular?
Or, are there separate worlds within a shared reality? How are they parallel and contradictory?
We live together in a common reality, regulated by societal norms and chronic habits. But, documentaries have the magical ability to lead viewers to countless private spaces, where we can see reality through the personal and poetic lenses of the artist. On the silver screen, the line between what is “real” and what is “poetic” starts to blur, blend and overlap.
Reality/Poetry – A series of short Vietnamese Documentaries is an invitation, opening the way to colorful shards of reality – over 10 works by 6 talented Vietnamese filmmakers. With the theme of two screenings, respectively, Me – Them, the series transverse from internal worlds, expands outwards to vast external scenes, all the while retaining the unique and close perspective of the artist.
Part 1
Phạm Thị Hảo | 27:00
Beer and relax (2007)
Love philosophy in the morning (2008)
The Room (2005)
A series of 3 short films by Phạm Thị Hảo describes three moods of three different characters but in reality, these characters all originate from the director herself, during certain memorable moments in a woman’s life.
Nguyễn Phương Thảo, Touch Me Not (2022) | 20:00
Phim Touch me not by Nguyễn Phương Thảo is like private diary pages not trying to express personal feelings directly but rather reveal the observation and documentation of the stories around the director in a quarantine camp during COVID-19.
Part 2
Nguyễn Hồng Quân | 28:00
Dear Ly (2018)
The father who lives in Brussels is telling a story to his small daughter living in Hanoi through a video call. The story reveals even the relationship between him and his family.
A Theoretical Film (2017)
The 13-minutes documentary explores the relationship between Bailint (a 14-year-old disabled boy with ALS syndrome and always in a wheelchair) and his mother. Bailint wants to become a computer programmer and is passionate about researching UFOs.
The Visit (2017)
The UFO wave from Belgium reached its peak on the night of 30/31, March 1990. In that destined night, various mysterious beings were detected by radar, were photographed and seen by 13,500 bystanders, of which 2,600 people reported in detail what they had witnessed…
Nguyễn Duy Anh, Bính’s garden (2018) | 12:00
In a catholic countryside, we can find a colorful flower garden. The owner of this flower garden, Nguyễn Văn Bính, a young adult, chooses to stay here and follows the family’s footsteps in the flower business. Soon, I realized, Bính is in love…
Linh San, Mother’s garden (2019) | 4:00
In the space where time falls, mother’s garden lies among seventy thousand memories.
Đỗ Hà Lan, Lunar new-year? (2021) | 8:00
How to know when the Tet holiday comes and goes? The movie is a gentle and familiar observation of the film-maker about her family in Hà Nội during the Tết (Lunar new year) holiday.
Phạm Thị Hảo: Through the process of personal film-making projects and film editing for others, I discover the meaning of cinema for myself: Reality is a tangled mess of problems, dramas, theatrics, and intertwining, overlapping, opposing, conflicting, illogical stories and illusions… But when on film (documentary and fiction films), the complexity of life needs to be explained and guided by some kind of logic, if not, people would not be needing films.
Phương Thảo, majors in Video/Installation and studies contemporary art at “Haute école des arts du Rhin” art university in France.
Nguyễn Hồng Quân is an independent film director from Hanoi. He is currently a lecturer at Hanoi University of Theater and Cinema. From 2016 to 2018, he received a full scholarship of The DOC NOMADS Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) program – a master’s training course in “Documentary Director” associated with three top universities of three European countries: Portugal, Hungary and Belgium.
Nguyễn Duy Anh (vudieunongsay) was born in 1997 and is a film-maker in Hanoi. He graduated from the director exchange course between Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema and INSAS art university (Belgium). Nguyễn Duy Anh was born in 1997 and is a film-maker in Hanoi. He graduated from the director exchange course between Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema and INSAS art university (Belgium). As a director, screenwriter, producer, editor and organizer, Duy Anh has released various works, including fictional short films and documentaries, installation videos, music videos, and more. These works have had the opportunity to be screened and exhibited at various venues and film festivals such as Singapore International Film Festival, Bali International Short Film Festival, Kunsthalle TRAFO, etc. Duy Anh’s work often explores and questions the dominance of larger systems over individuals’ freedom of expression in contemporary social contexts. Besides, Duy Anh is also a member of Babau.Air, a collective curator, producer and artist in Hanoi, together with Cao Việt Nga, Duy Anh founded Hoa Quỳnh Cinema – an intimate film screening program..
Linh San earned a bachelor’s degree in Literature, Hanoi National University of Education in 2020. Currently, she works for a few cultural and art spaces in Hanoi. Linh San’s practices span a wide range of materials, including poetry, moving images and ceramics. Her works center around plain daily lives with a poetic and contemplative light.
Đỗ Hà Lan was born in 1998 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Screenwriting at Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema. She was a student of Hanoi DocLab and TPD. Hà Lan had experience in various roles in film-making like screenwriter, director, art designer,… She has also been VUI Studio’s film host for many years. She participates in organizing many cinema-centered activities in Hanoi (Blue/Green – Like the Moon in the Night Sky; Hanoi Academy of Theater And Cinema’s Film Festival 2020,…) Her joys in life are film watching, film making and being with her 3 cats.