Discoveries from Vietnam World Cinema

Am I the rain or the sun, a boy or a girl, a dream or a reality, a film or myself?

Arnont Nongyao’s ‘Mekong travelogue’ combines fragments of personal history with a strange sonic world to tell the story of losing oneself to ‘unconscious colonisation’.

From her pregnancy with twins to her romance with actor Kim Lý, singer Hồ Ngọc Hà chronicles her life as she records a new album in this documentary.

After the sudden death of their parents, under the shock, two teenagers deny the trauma reality. Despite of their sad and cruel destiny, they have to leave school and look for jobs to survive. In this rough and nostalgic reality of a society in wild stages of develop¬ment, they lose their virginity and become adult A strange atmosphere results from the unguided, inert but increasingly desperate young generation as they face the harsh conditions of modern life through passive revolting acts.

A day at the library

Navigating through Vietnam online gay dating scene, "Search" documents the filmmaker's attempt to understand his place among the community.

The daily life of a gay man whose body is inhabited by ants.

At a dance bar, a former soldier and now company director chances upon a hostess whose appearance resembles the young girl that saved his life many years ago in the War.

An ex-gangster is determined to make a fresh start after getting out of prison, but soon finds herself too entrenched in a circle of violence to leave behind her ruthless past.

A scientist dies while researching the toxins dropped by American bombers onto Southern Vietnam. His three students goes on a trip through the forest of Truong Son mountains to bring his remains and research documents back to the North, but soon find themselves developing the same symptoms like their professor.

An old Vietnamese romantic drama

When a wealthy doctor is found stabbed on the river bank, his son's ex fiancée and her mother are suspected of foul play.

Hung's parents abandoned him long time ago. He has lived with his uncle Ba since he was a child. Uncle Ba is a clever tailor and he's always kind to others. However, he is discriminated on the grounds of sex because he's gay. People they always tease him and speak against him and the Hung family behind his back. Hung feels so lonely.

At a friend's birthday party, 19-year-old An meets and falls in love with Lam, a charming playboy, at first sight. The passionate romance soon ends devastatingly when An becomes HIV positive. Abandoned by his lover and disowned by his conservative family, An tries to cope with the last days of his life in loneliness.

Documenting the transformation of Bưởi Road in Hanoi, from a labyrinth of houses and small businesses to a highway, with demolition crew destroying buildings - some still inhabited, gleaners looking for metal scraps to sell for a living, and people living on the edge of this crowded road finding a way to keep on living.

A girl tries to find the answer about love before her big day, in a rainy night.

A puppy skips school to run a football game and learns a lesson.

Eleven Men combines footage from a range of Vietnamese classic feature films produced by the state-owned Vietnam Feature Film Studio with Franz Kafka’s short story Eleven Sons. Focusing on a single actress, Nhu Quynh, and spanning three decades of her career, Eleven Men transposes Kafka’s male family imaginary to the analysis of a woman’s relation to her lovers.

A young man wakes up in an endless void and unintentionally traps himself inside a ‘cocoon,’ where he is forced to confront his own self.

A shy high school student navigates friendship, crushes, insecurities, and misunderstandings alongside a close group of classmates, gradually realizing that the most meaningful part of youth is not romance or success, but the emotional bonds formed with the people who grew up beside him.

A transfeminine person shows up at Hell’s admissions office and makes her case to get in, but the harder she tries to prove she belongs, the more the system starts to unravel. (Available on Youtube)

Two robbers kidnap a witness and argue over what to do with him, with only six hours left before their heist is complete.

A thief steals a flower cart to escape. The reluctant flower vendor then encounters a series of customers who lead his life in a different direction.

This gorgeous, atmospheric drama sees a rural farm worker and his emotionally charged last day with a fellow farmer in the eve of his departure.

A National Liberation Front documentary following young couriers from the Plain of Reeds (Đồng Tháp Mười) as they transport ammunition and medical supplies by boat to forces at the front, working under the constant threat of air attack.

A rich man abandons his horse after losing a horse racing competition.

Crescent moon is a film describing the life of Vietnamese soldiers who were victims of Agent Orange after America intentionally spread the toxic chemical. Not only the soldiers but their family had to suffer from many loss and pain.

A movie starring Hồng Ánh.

A movie directed by Tran Ngoc Phong.

Inspired by family stories, explores the deep and meaningful bond between mother and child.

This film tells the story of the martyr Võ Thị Sáu, a teenage girl who fought as a guerrilla fighter during the First Indochina War, participating in the resistance movement against the French colonizers for the independence of Vietnam.

"Grave Diggers for Hire" quietly follows Bình and Ngọc, two men who earn a living tending graves and performing “bốc mộ”—a traditional Vietnamese ritual of exhuming, washing, and reburying human remains. Alongside their sons, they treat the dead with care and humor, maintaining a fading connection between the living and their ancestors.

A poor student fights for the love of his life against a nefarious bandit

This movie has been made for the 10th birthday of the anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory and the 20th birthday of the People's Army of Vietnam.

One day, a child sits quietly and attentively in a dilapidated apartment building. A fan gently stirs the air as the child plays with a Rubik's cube, its colorful faces sparkling in the fading light. With delicate movements, the child crosses streets and alleys, discovering hidden possibilities. Despite the threat of decay, small moments full of play, wonder, and hope arise, nourishing creativity. A delicate contrast to the faceless world of adults and the impending collapse that threatens to engulf everything.