Queer Cinema from Vietnam at Vietnamese Film Festival 2016

Two features and one short depict queer cinema from Vietnam will be screening Sunday, 17 April 2016 at VAALA's Vietnamese Film Festival that has just opened at the AMC 30 (The Outlets) in Orange, California.

A prizewinning film on the journey of Le Anh Phong from male to female is Finding Phong, who herself will appear at the festival.  The film has already made a strong impact in Vietnam, which earlier this year passed legislation facilitating the legal recognition of trans people there, after officials viewed the film.  It is directed by Tran Phuong Thao and Swann Dubus.

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Paired with Finding Phong is a 19-minute short, about a gay male couple in Vietnam, We are Coming Home. It is directed by Le My Cuong.

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 Joining a free "Finding Phong and the Vietnamese LGBTQ Community" discussion (open to the public) after the showing at 1 pm Sunday April 17, 2016 is producer Gerry Herman, the Hanoi-based independent film figure who has for over a decade managing the Hanoi Cinematheque that he founded in Vietnam's capital.  Another panelist is cp-producer Nicole Pham.  The panel will also include members of VROC: Viet Rainbow of Orange County, California. 

Another queer feature is Big Father, Small Father and other Stories, focusing on male lust among various characters set in modern-day Vietnam. It is directed by Phan Dang Di and was in competition at The Berlinale. The film stars Do Thi Hai Yen (Quiet American, Pao's Story and Adrift), Le Cong Hoang as well as Truong The Vinh.
 

Big Father...

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Another scene from Big Father...

 -- Daniel C. Tsang.