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Action!
Friday, April 13, 2007 By Jami Farkas

Movie-goers have plenty of choices to choose from, starting with a scene from "The Rebel."

"Finding Madison"

"The Journey of Vaan Nguyễn"

"Souls on Swing"

"Living in Fear"

"Going Home"

"Journey from the Fall" Photos courtesy of ViFF.

A beauty queen. A Vietnamese girl who grew up in Israel speaking Hebrew. An abandoned boy who searches for his past.

They all will be at the Vietnamese International Film Festival, which opens today, the third biennial tribute to film playing on screens in Southern California. Inclusion of works like these, with subjects so varied, shows just how far the moviemaking community has come in producing films about the Vietnamese experience.

“This year, we have a lot of young filmmakers,” said Tố-Phương Trần, the co-director of the festival. “The topics are really diverse. ... (Filmmakers have) creative freedom to do what they are really passionate about.”

It’s a freedom that increasingly has made itself known since 2003, when ViFF as it is called, debuted. It’s a freedom that can trace its roots to a number of factors, festival organizers said.

First, co-director Ysa Đ. Lê said, it’s because young Vietnamese Americans are exploring the artistic careers more than ever before, pursuing non-traditional fields.

Then, it could be because the Vietnamese filmmakers who existed a decade or so ago laid the foundation for the blossoming field.

“The filmmakers inspire each other,” Lê said.

And finally, it could be because Việt Nam itself has opened its doors to privately funded films, where in the past, the country allowed only films made for government or cultural groups, Lê said. While government censors still follow a director’s every move, Việt Nam’s soil has become a new ground upon which filmmakers can walk.

“We see the progress from 2005 to 2007, and I’m sure we’ll see even a bigger progress from 2007 to 2009,” Trần said.

The progress she refers to is both in the quantity and quality of films being shown at ViFF 2007, which opens tonight with the world premiere of Charlie Nguyễn’s martial-arts movie “The Rebel” and closes April 22 with another premiere, this one “Dust of Life,” a coming-of-age film by Lê-Văn Kiệt.

The sheer numbers also show the progress of the both the Vietnamese and international communities making movies about the Vietnamese. In 2003, the festival’s inaugural year, there was just one feature film, Lê said. This year, the festival boasts 13 feature-length films and 38 others for 51 total screenings.

Lê also said this year’s entries include feature-length films from directors who in the past submitted short films. Film budgets, too, are growing larger with more investors as the filmmaking community matures.

And as that community grows, so does ViFF, which this year received 75 entries. “All of the filmmakers would like to show their films here,” Trần said.

With all the planning and preparation behind, Trần said she can’t wait for the first curtain to open the festival. She has some personal favorites among the entries; there are some she is eager to share with an audience.

“There are two that really, really I enjoy a lot,” she said.

One is “The Journey of Vaan Nguyễn,” the story of a Vietnamese girl born to parents who had fled to Israel. She and her father attempt to return to Việt Nam to reclaim the land that was taken from them, and the journey that ensues leads her to question her identity.

“It’s touching and interesting. The subject in the documentary, it’s just to me so different. That’s why I love it so much. I cry. It’s really real. I feel how they feel. It’s just this whole big...” Trần said, her voice trailing off.

“Of course, I love ‘The Rebel.’ I was so excited watching it. Vietnamese filmmakers are so capable. This movie shows it.”

Now, she will get to see over the course of 10 days just which films become the viewers’ personal favorites.

“I’m excited and nervous,” Traàn said less than 48 hours before the opening. “We still have work to do. Hopefully, a lot of people will come and support the Vietnamese filmmaker.”

So far, the community has turned out numerous volunteers to help run the film festival, which could draw as many as 5,000. There are those who watched the films submitted for entry. There are those who have lined up the venues. Those who have handled the key details, like selling tickets and serving as ushers. And those who have agreed to co-sponsor certain days of the production.

The Vietnamese International Film Festival is a joint venture between the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association, an Orange-County based nonprofit, and VietNamese Language & Culture, which is based at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“As the festival grows bigger, it also has more demand on the staff,” Lê said. “I can’t emphasize how wonderful the staff has been for the entire year. …The dedication is amazing.”

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