Discoveries from Vietnam World Cinema

A reporter interviews a former prostitute from South Vietnam about her sheltering of an injured Vietcong leader during the war.

The journey of 33 male celebrities in the music reality show "Anh Trai Vượt Ngàn Chông Gai 2024".

A father and daughter swap bodies and have to learn to live each other's lives.

When Kublai Khan threatens to invade Vietnam, the young prince Trần Quốc Toản pleads to fight but is dismissed by the generals due to his age. Undeterred, he decides to gather his own army. A theatre production of the famous chèo play to be filmed for screenings in 1970s Vietnam.

After his family was brutally murdered by French settlers on his wedding day, an Algerian man joins the French army and is sent to Vietnam to fight in the First Indochina War.

Binh is a South Vietnamese soldier whose wife Nga turns to a life of prostitution after Binh is classified as missing. When Binh does return, he finds it impossible to forgive the repentant Nga. The couple's doomed future continues, as Binh joins the Vietnamese Special Forces and a friend struggles to reunite the two.

Since its first premiere in 1971, a classic Republic of Vietnam (1954-1975) war romance feature based on a fiction novel by military writer, Van-Quang. The film was lost for more than 4 decades when the communist forces took Saigon, Republic of Vietnam's capital, on April 30th, 1975. Digitized and restored from surviving 35mm prints archived by Japan film studio Imagica Lab; now transferred to UCLA Film and TV Archive. This film provides an almost unknown perspective on the Vietnam War, the Republic of Vietnam, and the RVN Army. The stage is the Republic of Vietnam, and the scenes portray a time during the Vietnam War as experienced by the Southern Vietnamese people, themselves. Phi, a soldier, longing to take Lien off to their private, imaginary space (the Purple Horizon), understands what his duty and commitment as a soldier is. Lien is a singer whose style is reminiscent of the "Torch" singers of the early 1930s. She desperately longs to escape the world with Phi to their purple.

Five-year-old Be Nang (Kim Thu), a smart and adorable girl, lives with her mother Trang—affectionately called Mama Rain (Thu Trang), who is mentally challenged and simple-minded. Every day, the two depend on each other in an abandoned house, making a living by selling lottery tickets and collecting scrap. Be Nang and Mama Rain are always cared for by Mr. Ba (Hoai Linh), who provides them with bowls of noodles on days when they don't have enough money to survive. Will the mother and daughter’s life continue to be peaceful with the love they have for each other?

Hoa is a young engineer and computer specialist who arranges the database of an institution. She is hardworking, yet her dedication goes unnoticed, and her boss dismisses her work and expertise as “redundant”.

A Love triangle story full of passion and lust. The love story begins with the appearance of the quartet Minh Tu, Ha Viet Dung, Duc Hai and Vo Thanh Tam. The lightning of love clashes when Minh Tu (Diem Tinh) serendipitously attends a painting exhibition. This fateful meeting opens up a complicated love story when Diem Tinh and Ha Viet Dung (Hung) become a couple. This is when Duc Hai (as Son) has to regret seeing the person he loves hand in hand with someone else. There will always be happy people and sad people, but it is a mysterious why some people are addicted to the pursuit, like the tagline in the movie "Love is like a drug" or Diem Tinh's line "You and you, are like moths. We jump into the light and die.” The appearance of the handsome taxi boy Vo Thanh Tam is also one of the highlights of the film that takes the story to a new direction. Unanticipated tragedies happen when the characters in the film are ready to defy everything to get what they want and hide their secrets.

Porcupine evokes the fragmented tale of a young man who breaks into an empty hospital to set up his online broadcast of poses and provocations; his audience includes real-life participants with anonymous tags like ‘bigballnz’ and ‘romeoazteca’.

Chốt Đơn! follows the bustling lives of Hoàng Linh, a young and successful “chốt đơn warrior,” and Chú An (Quyền Linh), an office worker who also moonlights as a rideshare driver. Amid societal pressures, uncertainties, and changes impacting two generations, Hoàng Linh and Chú An, despite their differences in age, background, and personality, discover a pure friendship. Together, they ignite new passions, leading to victorious “Chốt Đơn!” sessions.

The film revolves around iconic musician Trịnh Công Sơn and the muses that have come and gone in his life, from his passionate youth in the 1960s to his later middle-aged 1990s.

Hoài and Vận fall in love during the war against the French. Vận fought as a guerrilla and Vận ferried guerrillas across the river. When peace comes, Vietnam is divided in two across the Bến Hải River, leaving them separated.

When a post-war fishing firm fails to meet its expected demand, the chief accountant begins falsifying records and cutting down on wages paid to the already struggling fishers.

The life of a single mother with her little daughter is more interesting when the appearance of a gentleman, the plan to "find a husband, find a father" begins from here.

Mây, a fourteen year-old girl is being married as the third wife to a rich landowner in the late 19th century Northern Vietnam. A black & white reworking of 'The Third Wife' with no dialogue and a newly composed score.

The film revolves around iconic musician Trịnh Công Sơn and the muses that have come and gone in his life, from his passionate youth in the 1960s to his later middle-aged 1990s.

Cuong is an admirable man. He has a successful career, a beautiful wife, and a good son. However, his life begins to turn upside down when he discovers Thang - a friend of his son is related to Trung, his gay lover in the past.

Writer Nam Linh specializes in writing violent stories for teenagers to read, but he does not know anything about teenagers and does not understand his son Minh Quan. Later, because of being despised by everyone, Nam Linh committed suicide. After becoming a ghost, he met the old ghost boss along with three other teenage ghosts, Thanh Mai, Nana Ly and Ngo Vinh.

Leaving their village to earn a living in the big city, Tham and Quy's relationship soon suffers in the face of impoverished conditions.

A young man returns home on the threshold of the Lunar New Year and finds himself a stranger within his own family. The cold silence surrounding the disappearance of his younger sister forces him on a quest for answers. Through his search, we are given a glimpse of the family’s fragmented past. From their perilous escape from Vietnam, to their separation, to their struggle with marred relationships, the family continues to endure the tragedies of false expectations.

Thang is a Hanoi intellectual and graduates from university with high distinction causing his former teacher, Dao, to invite him to work in a mathematics institute of odd algorithms. He has problems because of his personality and refuses to give up his mathematical perspectives. He distinguishes himself as a person of integrity, which also causes problems for him.

During a mission to Earth, two fairies are exposed to the human world for the first time. Everything is new and strange which causes lots of nuisance, but also generates laughter from acts when trying to "integrate" with the world of humans. From this, two fairies understand the meaning of love, friendship and rediscover themselves.

Released during the 2013 Lunar New Year, this heartwarming comedy features a beloved cast including Đan Trường, Miu Lê, Hiếu Hiền, Nam Cường, and Trấn Thành. Overflowing with charming, relatable moments, the film delivers hearty laughter to its audience. The story follows a sweet romance between two university classmates. He’s a poor but kind-hearted student who sells ice cream to pay his tuition. His sincerity and perseverance gradually win over the heart of a pretty girl in his class. Just as their feelings blossom, they face a major hurdle: her family disapproves of his humble background. Their love must overcome numerous obstacles, family prejudice, and a series of humorous, bittersweet situations.

The childhood of Venice, the Menace revolves a circle of pleasure, greed, luscious toys, luxurious quality lifestyle as a toddler.

Porcupine evokes the fragmented tale of a young man who breaks into an empty hospital to set up his online broadcast of poses and provocations; his audience includes real-life participants with anonymous tags like ‘bigballnz’ and ‘romeoazteca’.

Nam, 22, fled to Saigon for a murder. In one accident, Nam reached the sights of Huy, 25, a mysterious character completely unknown. Knowing Nam need money to survive, so Huy promised Nam that he will pay 200 million in exchange for he can own Nam for 20 hours. And Nam has to do everything except things that are illegal. Nam were secretly sent back to the mysterious mansion of Huy, and from here Nam has to face the dangerous game and this guy's craziness. In this house, Nam is not alone like Huy told him before, but also with one young girl was stabbed to death and 1 grave. And when Nam want to escape the ghost house, only to discover Huy also stabbed to death. The killer is somewhere in the house? Who is she? Huy's relationship with the girl like? Can Nam safely escape with 200 million or not?

At the age of 17, Luu is raped by her master. When the young girl falls pregnant and gossips arise in the master’s social circle, he strips her family of their land and banishes them from the estate. Left with little means to support themselves, the family moves to Bac Lieu with Cu, the kind-hearted farmer who marries Luu, and tries to foster a new life here, though remnants of the past is bound to return one day.

In a mountainous village, a young girl with a strange birthmark is accused of being the devil incarnate and banished from society.

Thach Thao is a beautiful girl with an angelic beautiful voice, and the first time she sang on stage at Itango Club, Thao immediately caught the eye of a music producer named Son. Then, she was invited to cooperate in filming a music video called "A Fragile Flower". After the music video was released, Thach Thao became a renowned singer. She is beautiful, talented, so many men love her. Then, which man will Thao's heart belong to? And what is the dangerous disease that she encountered?

Following the journey of a 50.000 VNĐ as it changes hands in society, the currency becomes a witness to surprising events and stories, connecting people in unexpected ways.

Falsely accused of dubious connections to a notorious Hong Kong cartel, a Vietnamese police officer decides to clear his name by catching its drug lord.

The film recounts the life of Ly Cong Uan from his youth as a Buddhist disciple to his ascension to Emperor of Vietnam in 1010 AD. The Prince and the Pagoda Boy was released in 2010 to mark the 100th anniversary of the city of Thang Long (today's Ha Noi).

A young reporter doesn't believe her father committed suicide and starts an investigation.

This film follows the lives of undocumented Vietnamese workers in Taiwan doing odd jobs to survive, after having been forced to flee their employers due to harsh working conditions and lack of medical care. How will living this way for more than a decade shape their lives?

Hoa is a young engineer and computer specialist who arranges the database of an institution. She is hardworking, yet her dedication goes unnoticed, and her boss dismisses her work and expertise as “redundant”.

The film follows the life of Nguyễn Văn Trỗi from shortly before he was caught for his attempted assassination of McNamara to his eventual execution, leaving behind his newlywed and others around the couple.

During the war, a woman learns that her husband is an army deserter.

Đồng Quê: Of the Same Womb follows 13 queer and trans Vietnamese artists returning to their ancestral homeland. The film holds space for grief, resilience, and reclamation, and for the connections between queer and trans Vietnamese people, their families, and the broader communities they come from.

Soon after her wedding, newlywed Duyen's excitement begins to fade as she realizes her young husband is not only naive but overly occupied by his job and doting mother. As her marriage goes unconsummated and her emotional isolation grows, she reaches out to her closest girlfriend, Cam, who secretly desires her, but pushes her into the arms of a dangerous and provocative suitor. The resulting infidelity puts Duyen in a precarious love triangle, challenging her notions of conventional relationships and also the stability of her new family.

A woman manages to escape from the Khmer Rouge labour camp. Saved from drowning in river by a group of Vietnamese soldiers, she decided to join them.

Tensions rise and untold secrets surface for three royals sisters when a family treasure is stolen the night before an antique auction.

A general who devoted his life to the communist cause, retires, only to find that his household is in disarray, his grown children money-grubbing, and Vietnamese society far from the rosy picture of equality he'd imagined he'd helped make it.

Hoang asked his two closest friends, Thy and Long, to help him fulfill his final wish: to become a man before he dies. Through the efforts of his friends and family, Hoang comes to realize that his greatest happiness doesn’t lie in “becoming a man,” but in living alongside the incredible people who love and support him unconditionally.

The film tells the story Hung, who was loved by his family as a child and lived in the protective arms of his parents. But the more the boy grew up, the more people slandered him about his gender. Pressure from family, and arguments from neighbors and people, the boy decided to run away to fulfill his "dream" of being himself, finding the light on the lottery stage. On stage, Hung becomes a charming and beautiful actress. People call her Hong Hoa, not Hung. She fulfilled her dream: to sing, to be praised, to be admired. But somewhere, deep inside her, there is still a smoldering wound called "family" - an emptiness that can never be filled.

The film revolve around the affection of Hieu and Mai Ngoc, their concerns, gender "boundaries" between instinct and reason, between curiosity about the age of adolescence and early vibrations. What difficulties, "temptations" will be for both, how to keep a beautiful spring love and sweet memories?

A group of girls sets off for a remote island to learn kitesurfing. They dream of soaring above the water like their instructors, strange, rude guys obsessed with the waves and wind. The boys aren't exactly thrilled about having to teach someone, but they need the money for a trip to Cape Verde. What is true kitesurfing—the joy of flight or the pain and humiliation? And what is freedom for the islanders—embracing their own path or escaping the big world?

While her mother is expecting their second child, young Thi befriends Ngoc, a club waitress who has just moved in as a tenant in their family home. As their friendship grows, she discovers that Ngoc is secretly a sex worker. Meanwhile, an art book of Tamara de Lempicka’s female nudes, stolen from a bookshop, silently bears witness.

A friend group bought a lottery ticket and won the jackpot but the ticket holder of the ticket accidentally died. Some of the surviving friends intended to unravel their friend and retrieve the winning ticket, some don't.

Quan is a story about a young boy tired of working for his relatives in the rice paddies and dreaming of a life where he is free to pursue whatever he desires. Doing so, he befriends an elderly bus driver, who teaches him the value of doing something you enjoy, for a living. Finding a new family, leaving your past isn't an easy task, especially for a young boy, and destiny can always find a way to turn things around in life.