Casting Call: HIẾU: THE OBLIGATION

8/14/09

Roland Nguyen, an MFA Candidate at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, is currently seeking actors for an upcoming video shoot. The promotional video will be used to help raise funding towards the production of Nguyen’s feature length screenplay, “HIEU: THE OBLIGATION,” a modern Western set in Texas and Nebraska that follows the rise of a Vietnamese gunslinger in Houston’s Asian underworld.

The casting will be held on Saturday August 15, 2009 from 1:00pm-5:00pm at VAALA Studio, 14772 Moran Street (corner of Bolsa Avenue), Westminster, CA 92683.

Submissions for the following roles are currently being accepted:

LAN - FEMALE 25 - 35 / VIETNAMESE

A former Saigon bar girl who hopes to raise her son like a good American, free from the war and poverty she knew in Vietnam. Native or near-native Vietnamese speaking required.

MINH - MALE 5 - 10 / VIETNAMESE

Despite the flaws of the adults in his world, Minh is a well-adjusted child thanks to the close knit relationship he has with his mother and his uncle. But the arrival of three mysterious strangers in town is about to change his young life forever. All Asian ethnicities welcome, but please be prepared to speak a few lines in Vietnamese.

Inquiries, photos, headshots, resumes and other submission materials should be directed to Steven Nguyen at steven@risingbanner.com.Đạo diễn Roland Nguyễn Tuyển Diễn Viên

Roland Nguyễn, một đạo diễn trẻ hiện đang hoàn tất chương trình thạc sĩ (MFA) tại Đại học điện ảnh trường University of Southern California (USC), cần tuyển diễn viên cho một cuốn phim ngắn. Cuốn phim ngắn này sẽ được dùng trong việc tìm tài trợ cho cuốn phim dài (feature) “Hiếu: The Obligation.” “Hiếu: The Obligation” là phim “súng hiệp,” một loại kiếm hiệp hiện đại, lấy bối cảnh vùng Nebraska và Texas, xoáy vào một nhân vật “danh súng” của giới giang hồ tại Houston.

Roland Nguyễn đang tuyển các vai sau đây:

LAN - NỮ, 25 - 35 TUỔI

Trong quá khứ, Lan từng làm gái “bar” Sài-gòn, bây giờ cô cố gắng nuôi đứa con trai duy nhất của mình nên người với một cuộc sống bình an, tự do, và nhiều hy vọng. Vai này cần nói tiếng Việt thông thạo.

MINH - NAM, 5 - 10 TUỔI

Cho dù người lớn trong đời cậu bé này đã có những lỗi lầm, nhưng gia đình Minh thì ấm áp và đầy ắp tình thương. Tiếc rằng mọi sự sẽ thay đổi hẳn khi có ba người lạ xuất hiện từ xa đến, làm xáo trộn cuộc sống êm đềm của hai mẹ con. Vai Minh có thể là người gốc Á Châu, không cần phải người Việt Nam, tuy nhiên vai này sẽ phải nói vài câu tiếng Việt.

Ngoài vai Lan và Minh, đoàn làm phim còn cần thêm hai người đàn ông Việt Nam, từ 30 đến 45 tuổi để đóng vai hai người bắt cóc bé Minh. Tuy rằng hai vai này là vai phụ, nhưng diễn viên sẽ được diễn một cảnh hành động bắn súng rất ngoạn mục, rất hấp dẫn đối với những ai xưa nay muốn đóng phim nhưng chưa hề có cơ hội.

Buổi tuyển lựa diễn viên sẽ được thực hiện vào ngày thứ Bảy, 15 tháng 8, từ 1:00pm-5:00pm tại VAALA Studio, số 14772 Moran Street, Westminster, CA 92683. Để biết thêm chi tiết, xin liên lạc Steven Nguyễn qua email steven@risingbanner.com hoặc điện thoại (408) 391-0025.

Casting for Vietnamese-Language Psychological Thriller “Inferno”

Victor Vu (in white shirt) on the set of PASSPORT TO LOVE in Saigon, Viet Nam.

Saiga Films & Chanh Phuong Films are casting lead roles for writer/director Victor Vu’s newest feature film, the psychological thriller “INFERNO” - to be filmed entirely in Saigon, Vietnam, October - November 2009.

SYNOPSIS: This karmic tale of love, fate and redemption tells the story of a man who loses his memory and is nearly burned to death in a terrible car accident. As he attempts to piece together his shattered life, he unravels the shocking truth behind his own identity and the mystery surrounding his accident.

LOOKING FOR:

Males and females who are fluent in Vietnamese.

*MALE (early 30s) A sharp and handsome business-man who turns violent.

*FEMALE (early to mid 20s) Attractive, sophisticated house-wife with dark secrets.

All travel and accommodations, fees and compensation will be provided.

Please email HEADSHOTS and RESUMES to:

Mr. Nguyen An Vo (Saiga Films / Star Media Group JSC)
voannguyen77@gmail.com

Saiga Films / Star Media Group JSC
12B Phan Ke Binh
Dakao Ward, District 1, Saigon, Vietnam
Tel:  (84.8) 3911.8810
Fax: (84.8) 3911.8831

Chanh Phuong Films
25A - Floor 1, Nguyen Binh Khiem Str.,
Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Saigon, Vietnam
Tel: (84.8) 3291.2179
Fax: (84.8) 3291.2178

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS: Victor Vu is the director of such films as “SPIRITS (Oan Hon)” and “PASSPORT TO LOVE (Chuyen Tinh Xa Xu),” the romantic comedy sensation that won Best Supporting Actress (Kathy Uyen) and Audience Choice at Vietnam’s Golden Kite Awards 2009.   With “INFERNO,” Vu and executive producer Ngo Duc Trung of Saiga Films have joined forces with Chanh Phuong Films, the production company responsible for the martial arts epic “THE REBEL (Dong Mau Anh Hung)” and the critically acclaimed “OWL AND THE SPARROW.”

“PASSPORT TO LOVE” (Chuyen Tinh Xa Xu) is set to be released in the United States through Everest Productions October 2009.

Timothy Linh Bui’s POWDER BLUE Released on DVD

A new film directed by Timothy Linh Bui is now available on DVD, reuniting Timothy with Oscar-winning star Forest Whitaker and Patrick Swayze, plus other big names such as Jessica Biel and Ray Liotta.

The film can be rented at Blockbuster or online on Netflix, and other places where movies are rented.

Timothy is, of course, the older of the Bui brothers that brought us Three Seasons and Green Dragon. It was on Green Dragon that Timothy first directed Whitaker and Swayze.

The film’s story, based on the oft-observed presmise that life is full of strange coincidences and serendipitous intersections, is co-written by Timothy and another Viet filmmaker, Stephane Gauger the director of Owl and the Sparrow. (Read more about Owl here and here.)

The four principal characters lead their separate, and desperate, lives - except for one guy, a mortician named after the typewriter keyboard (Qwerty), who’s strange but not desperate. These lives then intersect in the most extraordinary ways. If the Bolsavik were glib, he’d say this film is something like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams meets Crash.”

In Powder Blue, Forest Whitaker (first photo above; The Crying Game; Panic Room; Oscar winner for The Last King of Scotland) plays an ex-priest with a death wish. Unable to commit suicide as against Catholic teaching, he goes around with a loaded gun and a suitcase of cash seeking someone willing to off him.

Ray Liotta (second photo; Goodfellas; Smokin Aces) plays an ex-con, a former hit man just out of a long 25-year sentence. Facing a world totally transformed, he’s seeking redemption with one big good deed.

Jessica Biel (third photo; TV’s 7th Heaven; Blade: Trinity; Stealth) is a single mother with a son in a coma, and she does odd jobs an dancing in a bar to meet the mounting medical bills. Patrick Swayze (right) plays the slick guy in the bar, but he’s not her consolation - that one comes in the form of her pet dog. She becomes truly desperate when the dog went missing.

But the ex-priest does not meet the other two - yet. The one he meets is a young eccentric mortician who’s named after the typing keyboard - Qwerty Doolittle, played by Eddie Redmayne, a star of British television. In danger of losing his business, and with the ex-priest’s proposal, Qwerty faces a decision that could change his life.

Other big names appearing in the film include Kris Kristofferson (A Start Is Born; Country Music Hall of Fame) and Lisa Kudrow (TV’s Friends; Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion; The Opposite of Sex).

Courtesy www.Bolsavik.com

Bolinao 52 Won 2 EMMY® Awards

Filmmaker Duc Nguyen and Producer Mai-Phuong Nguyen, M.D.

Monday, May 18, 2009- The 38th Annual Northern California Area EMMY® Awards were presented Saturday evening, May 16th 2009 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. BOLINAO 52 received the honor in two categories:

NEWS AND PROGRAM SPECIALTY- Documentary

“Bolinao 52,” KTEH 54 / Rhimp Productions / Center for Asian American Media / ITVS

Duc H. Nguyen, Producer/Director

CRAFT ACHIEVEMENT- Musical Composition/Arrangement

“Bolinao 52,” KTEH 54 / Rhimp Productions / Center for Asian American Media / ITVS

Mark G. Izu, Composer

The Emmy® is awarded for outstanding achievement in Television by The National Academy of

Television Arts and Sciences. San Francisco/Northern California is one of the twenty chapters awarding regional Emmys®. Northern California is composed of television and cable stations from Visalia to the Oregon border and includes Hawaii and Reno, Nevada. Entries were aired during the 2008 calendar year.

809 entries were received in 62 categories, 239 were nominated and 77 receive the Emmy® statuette.

The ballots were tallied by the accounting firm of Spalding & Company of San Francisco.

The Complete list of Emmy® Award recipients can be viewed at: www.emmysf.tv/emmy09winpr.pdf

Film Synopsis:

Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, millions of refugees took the perilous voyage across the South China Sea to find freedom. Many died of drowning, starvation and thirst. Some were lost at sea for days while others were pillaged and raped by pirates. More than thirty years later, filmmaker Duc Nguyen, himself a boat refugee, retraces the odyssey of the Bolinao 52 - and reveals an incredible tale of survival, reconciliation and closure.  One hundred and ten refugees boarded a crowded boat one night in May 1988. Soon after leaving Vietnam, the boat’s engine died. They were ignored by over 20 passing ships. Nineteen days later, the USS Dubuque stopped but the ship’s captain refused to pick up the dying refugees. Facing death, they

resorted to cannibalism. After 37 days at sea, only 52 people survived. Finally, humble fishermen

rescued them to the coastal town of Bolinao in the Philippines. This is the true story of the Bolinao 52.

Bolinao 52 DVD was recently released.  The documentary won the Best Audience Choice Award at the 3^rd biennial Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) in 2007.

For more information about the film and its progress please go to www.bolinao52.com or the BOLINAO 52 blog: bolinao52.blogspot.com.

Tze Chun’s “Children Of Invention” Set To Open LA Asian Pacific Film Festival

TZE CHUN’S “CHILDREN OF INVENTION” SET TO OPEN LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY THURSDAY, APRIL 30 AT THE DIRECTORS GUILD

Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, proudly presents Tze Chun’s CHILDREN OF INVENTION as the Opening Night film of the 25th anniversary edition of the Los Angeles Asian Film Festival on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the Directors Guild of America.

Director/screenwriter Tze Chun, actors Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu, and Cindy Cheung, and other special guests are scheduled to attend the screening and answer questions from the audience. A reception in the DGA Grand Lobby will follow the screening.

CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is the story of two young children: Raymond Cheng (Michael Chen) and Tina Cheng (Crystal Chiu), living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother, Elaine (Cindy Cheung), disappears. This latest predicament seems all too familiar to precocious Raymond who dreams of taking care of his mother and sister with the fortunes garnered from his inventions. Little Tina, however, remains oblivious to their troubles. Meanwhile, lured by promises of easy cash, Elaine, finds herself drawn into another pyramid scheme, one that will jeopardize the welfare of the two things that matter the most her children.

Abraham Ferrer, Exhibitions Director at Visual Communications and Film Festival Co-Director, states, “We are excited to present the Los Angeles premiere screening of CHILDREN OF INVENTION at this year’s Film Festival. We have been following director Tze Chun career since his short film WINDOWBREAKER was presented at the 2007 Film Festival and we are honored to have him return to present his latest effort as our Opening Night Presentation.”

Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, was established in 1970. The organization has established a lengthy track record of pioneering achievements in producing, presenting, and preserving more honest and accurate representations of Asian and Pacific Islander communities in America. Visual Communications is also recognized as an incubator of emerging Asian Pacific American cinematic talent. The organization’s works have been exhibited in numerous venues and broadcast outlets around the world.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is the Southland’s premier showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific cinema; since 1983, the Film Festival has presented over 3000 films and videos by Asian international and Asian diasporic artists, and additionally features seminars and panels, in-person guest appearances, and filmmaker awards.

The Film Festival is proudly sponsored by (as of presstime): OFFICIAL VEHICLE SPONSOR: Toyota; PREMIERE: Gilead Sciences, Directors Guild of America; OFFICIAL BEER SPONSOR: Stella Artois; SILVER: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Southwest Airlines; BRONZE: CBS, Screen Actors Guild, SAG Indie; COMMUNITY: The Boeing Company, Eastman Kodak Company, Hilton Universal City, Writers Guild of America, West; GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts; SUPPORTING PARTNERS: Asian Pacific Community Fund, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, East West Players, Project by Project, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans; RECEPTION SPONSORS: Creative Floral Designs, Foto Cabina, Kirin Beer, LA18; MEDIA SPONSORS: angryasianman.com, LA Weekly, LA18, KPCC; VENUE SPONSORS: Directors Guild of America, Aratani/Japan America Theatre, Downtown Independent, Laemmle’s Sunset 5, National Center for the Preservation of Democracy.

The Opening Night Presentation of CHILDREN OF INVENTION will take place on Thursday, April 30th, 2009, 7PM at the Directors Guild of America, located at 7920 W. Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046. Parking is free to the public at the DGA Headquarters Parking Lot (enter on Hayworth Ave.) and at 8000 Sunset Blvd, with validation. Tickets for the VIP Reception, Screening & Gala Celebration are $100 General; $75 Students, Seniors, & Members of VC/ DGA/ JACCC w/ I.D. Tickets for Screening & Gala Celebration are $30 General; $24 Students, Seniors, & Members of VC/ DGA/ JACCC w/ I.D. Tickets can be purchased by phone at (213) 680-4462, x59 or online at www.vconline.org.

Special Screening of BOLINAO 52

SPECIAL COMMUNITY HOMECOMING SCREENING OF
BOLINAO 52 : Remembrance, Reconciliation and Healing
With a Special RECOGNITION AWARD presentation to honor
CORWIN AL BELL, Former USS MORTON Commander

SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2009- 1 - 4 PM
BOWERS MUSEUM
2002 North Main Street
Santa Ana, California 92706
www.bowers.org

$15 General Public
$12 Museum Members (Tickets are available at bowers.org and the museum’s box office.)

March 23, 2008 — Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, millions of refugees took the perilous voyage across the South China Sea to find freedom. Many died of drowning, starvation and thirst. Some were lost at sea for days while others were pillaged and raped by pirates. More than thirty years later, filmmaker Duc Nguyen, himself a boat refugee, retraces the odyssey of the Bolinao 52 - and reveals an incredible tale of survival, reconciliation and closure.

One hundred and ten refugees boarded a crowded boat one night in May 1988. Soon after leaving Vietnam, the boat’s engine died. They were ignored by over 20 passing ships. Nineteen days later, the USS Dubuque stopped but the ship’s captain refused to pick up the dying refugees. Facing death, they resorted to cannibalism. After 37 days at sea, only 52 people survived. Finally, humble fishermen rescued them to the coastal town of Bolinao in the Philippines. This is the true story of the Bolinao 52.

Bolinao 52 was screened at the biennial Vietnamese International Film Festival in 2007 at UC Irvine. It won the Best Audience Choice Award at the festival.

The screening at Bowers Museum will culminate with a discussion panel on remembrance, reconciliation and healing that welcomes audience participation. A wine reception with light refreshments will cap off the program.

The panelists include:

Duc Nguyen, Filmmaker - A former boat person, the making of Bolinao 52 was a personal mandate for filmmaker Duc Nguyen to educate the world about the struggles of refugees. Due to the phenomenal response by international audiences to this film, especially from overseas Vietnamese viewers, he wants to use this landmark film to foster intergenerational and interdisciplinary dialogue and counseling.

Mai-Phuong Nguyen, MD, Associate Producer - Former co-chairperson of the student advocacy group, Project Ngoc-UC Irvine during the peak of the boat people’s plight against forcible repatriation back to Vietnam in the late 1980s. Dr. Nguyen brings extensive social and health advocacy experience along with her clinical expertise as a physician, to discuss how this film can be used to promote healing as well as cultural competency training for healthcare professionals serving immigrant populations.

Xuyen Dong-Matsuda, PsyD, Psychologist/Social Worker - A clinical consultant for the Orange County Asian Pacific Islanders Community Alliance and several other non-profit organizations with over 20 years experience serving ethnic communities, Dr. Dong-Matsuda will field questions. She has spoken on mental health issues on several Vietnamese radio and television shows and contributes regularly to print media. In 2004, the OC Register named her one of the Top 30 Vietnamese Americans to Watch.

BOLINAO 52 is a co-production of Duc Nguyen and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), produced in association with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and KTEH Public Television, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Additional funding is provided by All Roads Film Project and Pacific Pioneer Fund.

ViFF 2009 Wraps Up with Awards to Top Films

Trống Đồng Awards went to FOOTY LEGENDS (feature), directed by Khoa Đỗ and A Summer Rain (short), directed by Ela Thier.

Audience Choice Awards went to OPERATION BABYLIFT: The Lost Children of Vietnam (feature), directed by Tammy Nguyễn Lee and Delivery Day (short), directed by Jane Manning.

Irvine, CA-The 4th biennial Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) closed on April 12th to a cheering crowd with the Southern California premiere of ALL ABOUT DAD, a feature debut by Mark Tran. The night went on with a jungle-themed gala. All events took place at the University of California in Irvine (UCI).

Carrying the theme of Into View, the 8-day film festival featured over sixty short and feature films by emerging and established filmmakers from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and the United States. The event attracted more than 3,000 cinema enthusiasts from all over the world and was extensively covered by international and local press.

The prestigious Trống Đồng Awards were presented to FOOTY LEGENDS (feature), directed by Khoa Đỗ (Australia) and A Summer Rain (short), directed by Ela Thier (USA). “I am thrilled that FOOTY LEGENDS has been awarded the 2009 Vietnamese International Film Festival’s highest honor, the Grand Jury “Trống Đồng” Award in Irvine,” said director Khoa Đỗ. “For an Australian film to be recognized in this way is very rare and on behalf of all Australians back home, we are delighted to accept this award.”

Audience Choice Awards went to OPERATION BABYLIFT: The Lost Children of Vietnam (feature), directed by Tammy Nguyễn Lee and Delivery Day (short), directed by Jane Manning. “Being invited to join the growing Vietnamese American artist community and have our world premiere at VIFF was a huge honor. With the adoptees and Babylift volunteers in attendance, it was truly a special and unique evening. “We are so grateful for the warm reception we received at VIFF and even more thrilled to receive the Audience Choice Award,” producer/director Tammy Nguyễn Lee said.

ViFF also presented the Spotlight Award to actor Dustin Nguyễn to celebrate the great achievements that mark his acting career. The award was handed to Dustin Nguyễn by the renowned actress Kiều Chinh.

ViFF was spread throughout Southern California with screenings at UC Irvine’s Film and Video Center and Edwards University Cinema 6, both in Irvine, UCLA in Los Angeles, CA, and Bowers Museum, Santa Ana.

ViFF is presented by the two non-profit organizations Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) and UCLA’s Vietnamese Language and Culture (VNLC). ViFF was established in October 2003 to showcase Vietnamese and Vietnamese Diasporic filmmakers. ViFF’s mission is to support, celebrate, and project a diversity of visions and voices from filmmakers of Vietnamese descent and films by, for, and about the Vietnamese people and culture.

ViFF is made possible by sponsorships/support of: Ford Foundation; UC Irvine (School of Humanities, Department of Film and Media Studies, Film and Video Center, Community & Government Relations, UCI Advancement,Vietnamese American Community Ambassadors (VACA), Department of Asian American Studies, International Center for Writing and Translation (ICWT), Cross Cultural Center, Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC), Vietnamese Student Association(VSA), Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA), UCLA’s Campus Programs Committee of the Program Activities Board, Campus Programs Committee of the Program Activities Board, Undergraduate Student Association (USAC); Bowers Museum, Wells Fargo, Union Bank, State Farm, Dr. & Mrs. Jan Vilcek, Jayvee Hiep Mai, Elite Insurance, Nguyet Cam Music, Wave Releasing, Chakra Restaurant, DTN-Tech, Karuna Healthcare, White Knight International, Inc., St. Anselm’s Cross Cultural Community Center…

Media sponsors: VAN-TV, VHN-TV, LA18 (KSCI), VNCR, QMS Media Group, Little Saigon Radio, Hon Viet TV, Viet Tide, Saigon TV, VBS TV, OC Life Magazine….

Co-presenters: American Red Cross - Orange County Chapter, API Equality-LA, Asian Pacific American Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., Asian Pacific Legal Center Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA) at UC Irvine, Club O’ Noodles, Hawaii International Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian, Pacific Film Festival, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA), Project MotiVATe (MotivatingVietnamese American Teens), San Diego Asian Film Festival, St. Anselm’s Cross-Cultural Community Center, The Cambodian Family, UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation (VACF), Vietnamese American Coalition (VAC) at UC Irvine, Vietnamese American Community Ambassadors (VACA) at UC Irvine, Vietnamese American Law Student Association at Chapman University School of Law (VALSA), Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA-NO), Vietnamse Student Association (VSA) at UC Irvine.

Reel to Real: International Networks: Panel Discussion

Bui Thac Chuyen (Director, LIVING IN FEAR; Associate Director, TPD), Timothy Linh Bui (Director,GREEN DRAGON); Co-founder, Wave Releasing), Abraham Ferrer (Co-Director, LAAPFF), Stephane Gauger (Director, OWL AND THE SPARROW; Co-founder, Wave Releasing), Nguyen Nu Nhu Khue (Executive Producer, HK Films), Michael Nguyen Thornton (Technologist/DIT/Post Supervisor), and Quynn Ton, Esq. (Entertainment Attorney/Producer (CAVITE).

SUNDAY, April 12th

3:00pm-5:00pm

Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) 135, UC Irvine

Bilingual (English and Vietnamese) moderated by Ysa Le and Ky-Phong Tran

Translator: Do Le Anhdao

Free admissions

Since 2002, when the cinema policy in Vietnam allowed for the establishment of private companies to produce films in the country, there has been a boom of “indie” films produced and released in Vietnam by diasporic filmmakers. Consequently international collaborations have formed to share the financial burdens of making films as well as to secure a larger transnational audience base. However, filmmakers continue to struggle due to the lack of an infrastructure to support independent filmmaking in Vietnam as well as in overseas communities. Creative strategies for public relations, such as the internet (on blogs, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!360, etc.), have been used by filmmakers to mobilize an audience for their films, network with others, and provide a means for grassroots advertising. Yet, internet use is still limited; as a result, venues such as these and distribution channels are major challenges in both Vietnam and the diaspora. The goal of the panel discussion is to provide the panelists and the audience opportunities to explore the ways one can create a larger international audience base via different methods of networking.

Rebuilding the Community Post-Katrina: Panel Discussion

Moderated by Linda Vo, Ph.D.

Panelists: S. Leo Chiang (Producer and Director), Loan Dao (Ph.D. candidate of Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley), T. Linh Ho, Mai Dang (Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation), John Nguyen (Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans - VAYLA-NO), Tony Nguyen (VAYLA-NO)

SATURDAY, April 11th

4:15pm-5:45pm

Humanities Instructional Building

(HIB) 100, UC Irvine

Hurricane Katrina devastated Versailles, a thriving Vietnamese American community in New Orleans East. However, having been refugees before, Vietnamese American residents quickly returned post-Katrina and painstakingly rebuilt their neighborhood and their community. However, without consulting community members, the local government began building a toxic landfill just two miles away from Versailles. The community worked together to create effective alliances, especially by bringing together first, 1.5, and second generation Vietnamese Americans and their allies, to fight against environment racism and save their community. Representatives from groups that organized this coalition of resistance as well as those involved with making the documentary, A Village Called Versailles, which depicts their inspiring and moving story, are part of the panel. We can all learn crucial lessons from their experiences about how to overcome internal differences and strategically work together to improve Vietnamese American communities.

Panel Discussions at ViFF 2009

Rebuilding the Community Post-Katrina

Moderated by Linda Vo, Ph.D.

Panelists: S. Leo Chiang (Producer and Director), Loan Dao (Ph.D. candidate of Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley), Mai Dang (Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation), T. Linh Ho, John Nguyen (Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans - VAYLA-NO), Tony Nguyen (VAYLA-NO)

SATURDAY, April 11th  4:15pm-5:45pm

Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) 100, UC Irvine

Hurricane Katrina devastated Versailles, a thriving Vietnamese American community in New Orleans East. However, having been refugees before, Vietnamese American residents quickly returned post-Katrina and painstakingly rebuilt their neighborhood and their community. However, without consulting community members, the local government began building a toxic landfill just two miles away from Versailles. The community worked together to create effective alliances, especially by bringing together first, 1.5, and second generation Vietnamese Americans and their allies, to fight against environment racism and save their community. Representatives from groups that organized this coalition of resistance as well as those involved with making the documentary, A Village Called Versailles, which depicts their inspiring and moving story, are part of the panel. We can all learn crucial lessons from their experiences about how to overcome internal differences and strategically work together to improve Vietnamese American communities.

Reel to Real: International Networks

Bilingual (English and Vietnamese) Moderated by Ysa Le and Ky-Phong Tran

Panelists to be announced.

SUNDAY, April 12th  3:00pm-5:00pm

Humanities Instructional Building (HIB) 135, UC Irvine

Since 2002, when the cinema policy in Vietnam allowed for the establishment of private companies to produce films in the country, there has been a boom of “indie” films produced and released in Vietnam by diasporic filmmakers. Consequently international collaborations have formed to share the financial burdens of making films as well as to secure a larger transnational audience base. However, filmmakers continue to struggle due to the lack of an infrastructure to support independent filmmaking in Vietnam as well as in overseas communities. Creative strategies for public relations, such as the internet (on blogs, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!360, etc.), have been used by filmmakers to mobilize an audience for their films, network with others, and provide a means for grassroots advertising. Yet, internet use is still limited; as a result, venues such as these and distribution channels are major challenges in both Vietnam and the diaspora. The goal of the panel discussion is to provide the panelists and the audience opportunities to explore the ways one can create a larger international audience base via different methods of networking.

Click here to view topics of past discussions.

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