Varan Weekend 2010 – Vietnamese Documentary Films 2010

20 & 21 Nov 2010, 7.30 pm
Goethe

From Goethe Institut:
You are invited to the film screening of 6 documentary films made by Vietnamese filmmakers with the help of Varan.

The Varan Workshop is a coproduction between Ateliers Varan, the studio for documentary and scientific films, the Ford Foundation and the Goethe-Institut Vietnam. Not a film school in the classical or academic sense, Ateliers Varan’s teaching methods place strong emphasis on learning through practical experience. Varan has trained young filmmakers in Vietnam since 2004, supporting them in their first steps in documentary filmmaking.

List of films:
1. The Funeral Singer
* Length: 37 min
* Director and Cameraman: Truong Vu Quynh
Plot: Man is made of dust and earth and to dust and earth he returns. Death brings people together who have lived in loneliness and self pity. The story of the funeral singer is also the story of a collective. And it is a story which villagers in the countryside have told for centuries.

2. House and Love Nest
* Length: 33 min.
* Director and Camerawoman: Ngo Thi Hanh Doan.
Plot: From the childhood memories of the director. The camera focuses on women who long to have their own love nest. And behind the camera as well, stands a woman who brings deep understanding and love to the characters in her film.

3. The Youth of Today
* Length: 25 min.
* Director and Cameraman: Hoang Tung
Plot: The film tells the story of a group of young people, who are enthusiastic skateboarders, who live according to their own will and ignore the wishes of their parents. These in turn accept their children in their own way. This gives rise to conflicts which are common in Vietnamese families these days.

4. Mother Goes to the City
* Length: 25 min.
* Director and Camerawoman: Tran Cuc Phuong
Plot: This film is about the life of a farming woman who goes to the city to earn a living selling garbage and waste.

5. Across the River
* Length: 34 min.
* Director and Cameraman: Nguyen Minh Son
Plot: A small ferry crosses a river. A ferry which day in, day out, transports many people. To a village which appears forsaken…

6. Simple Happiness
* Length: 32 min.
* Director and Cameraman: Nguyen Minh Ky
Plot: Poor fishermen move from their village to the city of Da Nang to earn a living under a bridge on the Han River. With their hard work they also financially support their children back home – and hope to thus offer them a future and a chance. The film tells of simple life and dreams on the current of the river which glitters all the way to the city.

Language used: Films in Vietnamese with English subtitles.

Free entrance, no tickets