【2024 Vietnam Film Day】
The 2024 Vietnam Film Day, hosted by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) in collaboration with the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, and prominent Vietnamese cultural institutions, serves as a cinematic bridge linking Taiwan to Vietnam’s rich, multi-layered cultural landscape. Through the prism of the New Southbound Policy, this festival offers a luminous portal into Vietnamese society, inviting Taiwanese viewers to explore the artistry and narratives that define Vietnam’s identity.
For TAEF, culture is not merely a societal foundation but a vivid tapestry woven with the nuances of human experience, and that film can showcase the diversity of a society’s culture. In showcasing a curated selection of Vietnamese films, this festival reflects a spectrum of Vietnamese life—both the poetic and the quotidian—revealing an ever-evolving cultural panorama that not only delights in artistic accomplishment but celebrates the shared humanity connecting Taiwan and Vietnam.
This event forms part of TAEF’s New Southbound Film Series, a cornerstone initiative aimed at deepening Taiwan’s cultural dialogue with the Indo-Pacific. Previous events include the Southeast Asia Intercultural Film Festival, held in partnership with National Chengchi University, and the 2022 Ministry of Foreign Affairs New Southbound Film Festival.
The Vietnam Film Days initiative is the fruit of TAEF’s enduring commitment to cultural diplomacy. Beginning with a 2019 Memorandum of Understanding involving Taiwan’s National Culture and Arts Foundation and Vietnam’s National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies, TAEF’s work has since expanded to include partnerships in 2024 with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Cultural Studies and the Vietnam Writers’ Association, underscoring the growing synergy between Taiwan and Vietnam.
The festival comprises three sections: Classic Films and the Marks of Time, offering timeless cinematic milestones; New Auteurs and Innovative Visions, which showcases emerging voices; and Documenting Vietnam’s social issue, a lens on the beauty in the ordinary. This carefully curated lineup invites audiences to immerse themselves in the many dimensions of Vietnamese cinema.
【Event Information】
★ Date: Sunday, December 15, 2024
★ Location: SPOT Huashan 華山光影 (No. 1, Section 1, Bade Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei 100, Taiwan)
★ Ticket Registration: 2024 Vietnam Film Days Public Registration Form (English and Vietnamese Available)
*The ticket registration form will close on December 12. Audiences must complete ticket collection by 1 hour before the start of each screening on December 15 (Sunday). Tickets not collected by the deadline will be released to on-site standby attendees.
【Program Information】
1. You and Trinh (Em và Trịnh)
Directed by Phan Gia Nhật Linh, this heartfelt biographical film delicately captures the artistic life of Vietnamese musician Trinh Cong Son. Spanning his journey from youth to middle age, the narrative centers on his poignant love story. The film is imbued with evocative Vietnamese love songs that not only express romantic sentiments but also mirror the social changes and national history of the time, offering a lyrical portrait of love intertwined with Vietnam’s cultural evolution.
2. Cu Li Never Cries (Cu Li Không Bao Gio Khóc)
A woman returns to Vietnam from Germany, carrying her late husband's cremains, and resumes a life with her niece. The woman spends her days with a pet monkey, the only remaining link to her deceased husband, while her niece, in the bloom of youth, aches for marriage. In the same household, the two women live parallel lives: the aunt is bound by the memories of the past, finding solace in the dance halls where she relives her youth; the niece, driven by love, throws herself into relationships, even taking on childcare as a way to practice motherhood. The pet monkey, trapped within the confines of the city, gazes longingly with tear-filled eyes, yet it never cries. Its tears are pearls, precious and silent.
3. Children of The Mist (Những đứa trẻ trong sương)
Set in a mist-covered Miao village in Vietnam’s mountainous region, this poignant story unfolds through the life of a young girl named Di. Struggling with the pressures of traditional "bride kidnapping" customs, she fights to carve her own path in life. As her older sister becomes a wife and mother at a young age, Di vows to avoid the same fate. Yet, on Lunar New Year’s Eve, when her parents return home, they find that Di has vanished. With a restrained yet intimate perspective, the auteur captures this compelling narrative about growth, tradition, and personal agency.
*The subtitles are in Chinese only, but the film will be in Vietnamese.
