Vietnamese films at Smithsonian

Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:53:05 -0700

From: "Nora Taylor" <Nora.Taylor@asu.edu>

Subject: [Vsg] Vietnamese films at Smithsonian

To: "Vietnam Studies Group" <vsg@u.washington.edu

For those of you interested in Vietnamese films, I thought I would provide a brief summary of the December showings of five feature films and two shorts from Vietnam at the Smithsonian/Freer/Sackler Galleries in Washington DC between December 2 and December 18. Entitled "Views of Vietnam" the screenings were very well attended. 229 people came to

Glorious Time in Me Thao Hamlet (Me Thao Thoi Van Bong) by Nguyen Viet Linh; 196 came to Sandy Lives (Doi Cat) by Nguyen Thanh Van; King of the Rubbish Dumps (Vua Bai Rac) by Do Minh Thuan, 227; Lost and Found (Cua Roi) by Vuong Duc, 126 and Deserted Valley (Thung Lung Hoang Vang) by Pham Nhue Giang 325 or a full house. Pham Nhue Giang came to the screening of

her film and participated in two panel discussions that included myself, Nora Taylor, Kim Worthy, Professor of Film and Media Studies at Wagner College, Nguyen Thi Hong Thai, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Cinema Department and Nguyen The Cuong, Press Attache at the Embassy of Vietnam in Washington DC. The films were well received, with very positive reactions from the audience during the panel discussions. Comments from the audience generally included expressions of surprise at the economic changes in Vietnamese society, the recovery from the war, the religious undertones running through several of the films, the corruption in the government and the beauty of the landscape. Although some of the

literary allusions, the political satire, the play on words, metaphors and other symbols were either too obscure to grasp or simply eluded non-Vietnamese audiences, all films were applauded. Many audience members mentioned their general ignorance of Vietnamese films beyond Scent of Green Papaya and Indochine. During the panel discussion Giang gracefully

answered questions intelligently and diplomatically. Questions about censorship, funding, government control came up on several occasions and Giang gave the necessary hints while allowing Mrs. Hong Thai to give the official policy version. Giang also expressed interest in reciprocating the festival with a festival of independent films from America to be

shown in Vietnam instead of the usual pirated DVDs of Hollywood productions. When asked which American film directors she admired, she answered: Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.

In any case, congratulations are in order to Tom Vick, Film programmer at the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and his staff for an excellent choice in films and initiating the screenings.

Nora Taylor

Research Associate

Sackler Galleries/Smithsonian

Washington DC