Vietnamese Film Festival

The Vietnamese Film Festival is an internationally festival that started in 2003 in order to feature the creative works by Vietnamese people about Vietnamese people. From short clips as short as 1.5 minutes to long movies passing 2 hours, these films depict the struggles that war torn Vietnam and its’ people have suffered throughout the past as well as the present. These creative works portray a wide range of emotions and they are great for audiences of all backgrounds. All the films I had seen were in English or it had English subtitles, so don’t be afraid of exposes yourself to some cultural awareness this coming April.
One of my favorite comedic film was an extremely short clip «Ninja Say What?!» by Viet Nguyen. In less than 2 minutes this short film made me laugh so hard I had to forward the youtube link of it to all of my friends!
I also enjoyed «Touch» by Minh Duc Nguyen portrayed a young Vietnamese female protagonist who felt a cultural and generation gap from her father. Through her experiences in the movie you can see the different aspects of a touch: the painful touch, the loving touch, the sexual touch, the obligation touch… and much more.
The film that left the greatest impression or scar in my heart was «Floating Lives» where director Nguyen Phan Quang Dinh created a film based on the novel, «The Immense Field» by Nguyen Ngoc Tu. I was so angry in this movie, I was probably crying through half of it. The angry and abuse and injustice… and the innocent that is hurt for the wrongs of others… I knew I was angry because this story depicts truth. Despite hating how SAD and TRAGIC this story was, I felt that it spreads a global awareness on both Vietnamese history as well as inhumanity.
I am beyond excited for the 2015 Vietnamese Film Festival. I have my eye on Set 2: Blood is Thicker Than Sriracha, Set 4: Fool for Love 2, Set 7: Land of Sorrow & Set 12: Youth in Motion with a collection of short films.