A Film In A Minute

1 min / color video
USA 2008
Director: Roland Nguyen
Tension between brothers.

Skate Free

3 min / color video
USA 2007
Directorirectorirector: Tony Toka
A spoken word poetry piece that explores the ideas of being successful, having a job, and the American Dream, versus tuning out and being an artist. Shot guerilla style, this short is composed of one take by Andy Vu in the parking structure of the Santa Ana Police Department.

Tieng Cho Tru

Tiếng Chó Tru

7 min / color video
Vietnam 2008
DirectorirectorirectorS: K3FSP, Charlie Nguyen
A man in Hanoi tries to get rid of his noisy dog.

Oh Mommy

Mẹ Ơi!

5 min / color video
USA 2007
Director: Jenni Trang Le
A baby quail emerges from his egg to find himself in a lonely world. He encounters an Elephant, Tiger, and Rhino family, but in his heart, something is still missing. This is a journey to find courage, warmth and… his mommy.

Click here for film!

All About Dad

Mark Tran’s poignant feature debut All About Dad begins with a deceptively simpkie image—that of a
Vietnamese father trying to straighten a leaning tree on his immaculate front lawn with his bare hands, but
with no success. Instead of giving up and allowing the tree to bend naturally, the father becomes more
stubborn and frustrated as he repeatedly tries to fight and undo nature.
And so we are introduced to Mr. Do, the patriarch of the Do family. There is no doubt that Mr. Do loves his
wife and four children—Ty, Xuan, Binh, and Linh. It is also painfully apparent that his love constitutes strict
roles, responsibilities, and expectations of what each child should act, think, and feel. In Mr. Do’s eyes, the
only correct path to success and happiness in life is complete devotion to the Catholic faith, higher education, and the goal of having a stable job. Any digression from these three tenants is a recipe for compromise and  failure in the world.

Much to his dismay and disappointment, Mr. Do quickly realizes that every one of his children may not
subscribe to his philosophy. Ty, the youngest of the Do clan, is on the verge of dropping his Biology major to devote full-time to being a filmmaker; Xuan, fresh from passing her medical board exam, is most at peace playing her guitar and singing; Binh, the straight A student, is completely enraptured by his secret girlfriend; Linh, already engaged, is afraid to tell her father that her fiancé is not Catholic. These potentially explosive revelations do not stay in the dark for long…And as a result, hilarity, poignancy, and redemption ensue when light is finally shed on them.
Much like a painter working with a vast canvas but still giving each color and shade its due, director Tran
gives each character equal screen time, their struggles and triumphs conveyed through small yet poetic
moments—a heartbreaking look in a mother’s eyes; an eye-opening reconciliation between two stubborn
neighbors; a rooftop connection between sister and brother, aided by a song and the shimmering lights of
the city at dusk. All these moments blend seamlessly into a broad portrayal of a very modern Vietnamese
American family. Tran’s deft and original handling of a seemingly familiar theme of old world (immigrant
parents) versus new world (kids born and raised in America) is what gives All About Dad a healthy and
humanistic dose of poignancy and pathos.
By the time of its closing credits, director Tran comes full circle with that seemingly simple opening image
of Mr. Do trying to physically straighten that ever-bending tree; it is an image that belies its multi-layered
nuances and meanings. To give away any more of “All About Dad” would surely spoil this truly tender and
unforgettable tale of getting out of the way and letting “nature” takes its course.
- Alex Luu

USA / 2008 / 80 mins / color video
English and Vietnamese with English subtitles
PRODUCER:  Barnaby Dallas
DIRECTOR / WRITER:  Mark Tran
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Todd Banhazl
Sound:  John Larosa
Editor :   Jeremy Castillo
Main Cast:   David Huynh, Chi Pham, Yen Ly, Minh Do, Yvonne Truong, Nanrisa Lee, Hunter Vo, Eric Callero, Steven Cloyes

Vietnam Overtures

Vietnam Overtures is a documentary about a rescue; but unlike most rescue stories from that
embattled country, this one is about the recovery of a centuries-old classical music tradition,
another casualty of the long war there. Through a program called Transposition, initiated in
Norway in 2005 and launched in 2007, and in association with four Vietnamese institutions –
the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, the HCM City’s
Conservatory of Music, and the HCM City Opera and Symphony Orchestra – the classical music
scene in Vietnam is getting a much-needed helping hand. Director Stephane Gauger chronicles
the musical dialogue between these Vietnamese and Norwegian conservatories, as they work
together to prove again that music is, indeed, a universal language.

Vietnam / USA / 2008 / 60 mins / color video
Vietnamese with English subtitles
Producer:  Stephane Gauger
Director :  Stephane Gauger
Cinematographer :  Stephane Gauger
Associate Producer:  Ham Tran
Cinematographer :  Quyen Tran

A Child Has Seen A Fire

(Đứa Bé Nhìn Thấy Lửa)

17 min / color video
Vietnam 2008
Director : Tran Ly Tri
The film is about Nguyen Kim Hoang’s love for arts. With
only 17 minutes, we hope the audience will feel the same
artistic fire that has always burned in this artist’s soul.

Saigon Heat

18 min / color video
Vietnam 2007
Director S: Andy Vu, Danny Do
Saigon Heat brings you a generation of people living in
Vietnam today. It looks at how Vietnam is adopting western
styles and philosophy through Dance, Art, and Sport.

The Moon At The Bottom Of The Well

(Trăng Nơi Đáy Giếng)

Vietnam 2008 84 min / 35mm color
Vietnamese with English subtitles
Producers : Nguyen Thai Hoa, Morteza Mohammadi
Director : Nguyen Vinh Son
Writer : Chau Tho (based on the novel by Tran Thuy Mai)
Cinematographers : Trinh Hoan, Nguyen Nam
Sound: Le Quang Dao
Music : Quoc Bao
Editor : Phung Doc Lap
Main Cast : Hong Anh, Hoang Cao De

A routine, a role, a life that she performs to perfection, in the end, turns out to be nothing more than
an illusion that is necessary for her self-perseverance. This is the story of Hanh (Anh Hong), the wife
in modern-day Vietnam of a well-revered high school headmaster. She is the epitome of the society’s
righteous woman and the homemaker of every man’s dreams.

Her husband, Phuong (Cao de Hoang), is her world. Hanh tends to everything – from bringing him
fresh flowers for his morning tea to cleaning his motorcycle wheels. The devotion, the patience, and
the grace with which Hanh serves her husband can certainly make us uncomfortable at how devoted,
yet unnatural, her love for him is. Yet, in the eyes of a community, Hanh is indeed a perfect wife.

Hanh is considerate, virtuous, and faithful. Yet Hanh cannot give Phuong enough. Their world is not
perfect for she is unable to bear him children. In her determination to give Phuong everything she
thinks that he wants, she is introduced into a world of grief, betrayal, and loneliness. Local gossip
further induces the separation of her marriage bonds. In trying to regain what is ripped away from
her, Hanh is crushed to see that Phuong is content in his new home and new wife, even without all the
meticulous care she thought he needed. In pain and desperation, Hanh turns away from that society
that had victimized her and finds peace in the world of the dead.
- Quyen Lam

Green Meadow

(Thảo Nguyên Xanh Tươi)
40 min / color video
Vietnam 2007
Director: Phan Y Ly
“Whenever the low lying land in the middle of the Red River in Hanoi is mentioned, city people usually think of rubbish and used syringes. They assume that the people living here are all thieves and criminals, but actually it is not like that…”
To these children, life in a village of 20 houses floating on the river is not only poor and full of hardship, but also filled with love and care. Living in a place which most people would consider as a precarious existence, the children think this home of theirs is heaven.
With the support of the “My Life, My View” project, seven children named Hien, Tam, Ha, Thao, Bac and Tuyet filmed the daily lives of 20 families in a floating village on the Red River in Ngoc Thuy Ward of Gia Lam District in Hanoi. Let us travel to the world of these children and experience life through their eyes.

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