'À La Carte' and ‘Impermanence’ (Vo thuong) are two Vietnamese representatives to the LA Short Film International Festival 2020. (Photo: Courtesy of the filmmakers) Hanoi (VNA) - "À La Carte" and "Impermanence" (Vo thuong in Vietnamese) are among the 300 short films that qualify for this year's LA Shorts Film International Festival. International audiences can watch the movies for free on Youtube until October 31.
Both films have left an impression on not only mass viewers but also critics like director Phan Gia Nhat Linh.
“The two films with opposite styles are very strong in terms of visual storytelling. Watching the movies, I’m confident that the Vietnamese cinema in the future will have many new breakthroughs and interesting voices,” he said.
Poster 'À La Carte' (Photo: Courtesy of the filmmakers)
"À La Carte" (Order in temporary translation version) is set in the 1940s in Vietnam during the French colonial rule. The film revolves around a young northern Vietnamese woman (played by Quynh Kool) trying to save her family from capital punishment of a French officer by cooking and serving him a traditional cuisine - pho.
The film is only six minutes long with the artistic yellow colour. The content is a slice of short situations but leaves a lot of emotion through each scene. The film contains no speech, and has only heavy music that the French officer hears through his brass gramophone (phonograph) and the crying, moaning, screaming, and sobs of those who are about to be executed.
Through a behind-the-scenes interview, actress Quynh Kool commented this is a heavy role for her because the script has no speech, but she still has to show the heaviness, the moods from worry to full of hatred, resentment at the end of the movie.
Also through the character, young director Jay Do wants to show the image of a Vietnamese woman who is charming but not yield to the plight of society.
“My grandmother used to live in that period during her 20s, and I realise that Vietnamese women are always resilient and strong. There is a flame inside them to struggle with life, what I hope can be described through the eyes of the young woman in the movie.”
A scene in “Impermanence” (Vo thuong). (Photo: Courtesy of the filmmakers)
Meanwhile, "Impermanence" (or Vo thuong in Vietnamese) is up to 20 minutes long with a lot of conversations.
The 20-minute film is described that “a man falls out of a restaurant window in Saigon, different stories unfold about what really happened,” on the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival’s Facebook page.
Sharing about the film's name as well as the situation he poses for the main character, young director Pham Gia Quy said: “I want to convey an unpredictable in our daily life. The events intertwined like being rearranged to feel so random, the things were impermanence.”
Audiences who watch the movie feel excited and appreciate conversations, attitude, acting, and atmosphere of everyday life on Saigon streets. Besides, the sound in the movie contributes to building the atmosphere when reflecting portraying streets in Vietnam.
One of the most impressive factors of the film is the very real action and chase scenes, rarely seen in the Vietnamese cinema or television before. Director Pham Gia Quy and the film's picture director drew a chase scene as they imagined when they were studying the cinematography in the US.
(Photo: LAshortsfest.com)
Each year, the LA Shorts Short Film International Festival receives 300 films for competition from professional filmmakers as well as independent filmmakers and amateur filmmakers.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first time the film fest has been held through an online format, with 300 short films being streamed for free until October 31.
This is the only film festival with seven categories of awards recognised by the Academy Awards. Award-winning films at the LA Shorts will likely receive Oscar nominations in the future./.
