“Viet Film Wave” at Bowers Museum, tomorrow Friday

If you’re into modern films, especially Viet films that don’t look like copies of Hong Kong or Korean soaps, check out this press release from VAALA and the Bowers Museum (2002 N. Main St, Santa Ana , CA 92706):

Viet Film Wave Series at Bowers Museum :

Symposium with Filmmakers Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo,

Stephane Gauger and Lam Nguyen

Friday, May 9, 2008 from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.

www.vaala.org & www.bowers.org

Santa Ana, Calif. – The Viet Film Wave series at the Bowers Museum will culminate in a symposium with Filmmakers Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo (director of Buffalo Boy), Stephane Gauger (director of Owl and the Sparrow) and Lam Nguyen (producer of Journey from the Fall).  The event will take place on Friday May 6, 2008 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. in the gorgeous Norma Kershaw Auditorium at Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St, Santa Ana , CA 92706, telephone: (714) 567-3695.  The museum will host a reception from 7:30-8:00 p.m.   Admission fee (including the reception): $5.  Tickets will be available at the door. 

The Bowers Museum in conjunction with the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) presents THE VIET FILM WAVE, a compelling three-film series and symposium with the filmmakers.  The films in the series were Owl and the Sparrow, Journey from the Fall, and Buffalo Boy on April 6, April 20, and May 4, respectively.  Today’s Vietnamese American filmmaking reflects the vibrant movement to go beyond the scope of the mainstream’s telling of Vietnam and toward illustrating the dynamic Vietnamese experience itself.  The three films selected transmit these stories through the lens of talented and devoted filmmakers, screenwriters and actors. 

Panelists’ Bios

Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo
Writer/Director

Nguyen-Vo grew up in a small town in Vietnam during the war.  To escape the fighting and atrocities, he spent a great deal of his youth in the only one-room movie theater in town that was managed by his parents.  Except when there was fighting, he was able to watch at least one film every week from around the world. 

After high school, he was awarded a scholarship to Université de Poitiers , France .  He continued his education in the United States at UCLA and graduated with a Ph.D. in applied physics.   Now living in the globalized Los Angeles and returning to Vietnam regularly, he is trying to transcend the differences in these two worlds.

“Buffalo Boy” is Nguyen-Vo’s first feature.  It has received many awards around the world:

* FIPRESCI Award for best foreign language submissions to the Academy Award, 2006, Palm Springs International Film Festival, United States .

* Youth Prize, Locarno International Film Festival , Switzerland , World Premier.

* Best Director Award, Cape Town World Cinema Festival , South Africa .

* Best Director Award, Vietnamese film festival, Hanoi, Vietnam

* Best New Director Award, Silver Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival, United States.

* Grand Prize, Golden Unicorn Award, Amiens International Film Festival , France.

* Grand Prize, Asian Marine Film Festival, Makuhari , Japan.

* First Jury Prize, Amazonas International Film Festival , Brazil.

* Best Cinematography Award, 50th Asian Pacific Film Festival, Kula Lumpur , Malaysia.

* Best Film of 2005, Cultural Center, Hanoi , Vietnam

* Culture and Art Award in Cinema, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Stephane Gauger
Writer/Director

Born in Saigon and raised in Orange County , Calif. , Gauger received a bachelors degree in theatre and French literature. He subsequently worked in the camera and lighting departments on independent films in the United States and Southeast Asia , including Sundance winner Three Seasons, all the while honing his writing and directing craft on short narrative and documentary films. 

Owl and the Sparrow, his feature debut, received nine awards at film festivals in 2007, including the audience award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and best narrative feature at the Asian Film Festivals of San Francisco, San Diego and Dallas .  Gauger was nominated for Breakthrough director at New York ’s Gotham awards as well as the John Cassavetes awards at the Independent Spirit Awards.  He is now in post-production on Vietnam Overtures, a documentary on Vietnam ’s classical music scene.

Lam Nguyen
Producer

Lam Nguyen was born in Vinh Long, Vietnam where he grew up until his family moved to the United States in 1989. In 1996, he won the Student Emmy Award and the Chicago International Award for his short film Nostalgic.

One of the founders of NonLa Films, Nguyen has directed over 40 music videos and produced for Van Son Entertainment since 1996. In 1999, he joined the Club O’ Noodles Theatre Group, where he met Ham Tran and produced Ham’s M.F.A thesis film The Anniversary, which has won over 25 international awards, in addition to being on the top 10 list for the 2004 Academy Awards®.

Nguyen said, “It’s important for me to make Journey from the Fall because the new generation of Vietnamese youth must remember where they came from and why. Journey is a historical film that needs to be told to the world.”