Celebrity par excellence: Even the TV reporter/host wanted to take a souvenir picture with Dustin Nguyen.
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| To the right above is Thang Dinh Nguyen, the head of Boat People S.O.S. who will be on a ViFF panel discussion. In the middle is Pham Phu Minh, a shareholder of Nguoi Viet and the publisher/editor of Phu Nu Dien Dan and Chi Linh magazines. | Dustin Nguyen answering interviews from Saigon TV. |
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| Answering questions from VHN-TV is Le-Van-Kiet, who directed the critically acclaimed Dust of Life. His second feature Sad Fish — starring Orchid Lam Quynh, plus what looks like a re-cast of Journey From the Fall: Kieu Chinh, Long Nguyen, Jayvee Hiep Mai – will World Premiere at ViFF on Saturday at 5pm. | Orchid Lam Quynh, who has a day job as a Math professor at Cypress College, emceed the opening ceremonies for ViFF. |
Above is Khoa Do, the 2005 “Young Australian of the Year” and director of Footy Legends, which the Bolsavik thinks is probably the best film ever made by a Vietnamese director.
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| Some more pictures of Khoa Do. Here he is with a couple of fans. | And here he is in the middle, with Dustin Nguyen to the right, and, to the left, Tram Le, the Chair of VAALA’s Board of Directors, |
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And here’s Khoa talking with, on the right, Kieu Chinh, the veteran Vietnamese actress known for a string of famous roles including as Suyuan in The Joy Luck Club. In the middle is Alan Vo Ford, an executive producer of Journey from the Fall.
These three people are, from left to right: Sukhee Kang, the mayor of Irvine; Dr. Vicki Ruiz, the Dean of Humanities at UC Irvine; and Ysa Le, VAALA executive director and a co-director of ViFF.
TV crews making themselves at home all over the lobby.
wow VVF is a best Film festival !!
Great coverage of the event, Mr. Bolsavik. So many happy smiling faces. I wanted to come but had to work and barely had enough to make rent. That’s the way it goes…It is rather ironic that all these great Viet oriented movies cannot be shown in Little Saigon, my beloved enclave, yet we have to drive out of town to watch fellow Viets on the screen. Sort of like have the Oscars held in Nevada or Oregon.
If anything, movies relating to Viet oriented topics should be shown here in my dear town (Westminster, Garden Grove – please not Gar*age Grove, and Santa Ana) because we make up the largest Viet community outside of VietNam. To add further injury, we have the capacity, style, pizzazz, flair, class, and most importantly local restaurants to appease all but could not.
Why can’t the mayor of any one of the three cities in Little Saigon be in the honor section instead? Who has weathered the storms through these growing pains periods? Yet, they do not receive the honor. This is very disheartening to create such a self-destructive atmosphere where “outsiders” of our Viet enclave which we created for so long steal the honor and reward from the local citizens’ hard work and effort.
On a practical side, all these cities in Little Saigon have actually lost business and tax revenue from not being able to host such a wonderful event, and more importantly, the reputation to be center of the Viet universe outside of the actual country. And of course, our local Viet style is old school. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone in Little Saigon.
On the bright side, movies at the Bowers are great and seeing my friends and happy fellow Viets and non-Viets really brightens the day and rocks the boat so to speak. Hahaha. Have a great one, everyone!
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said that he could not define obscenity, but he knew it when he saw it.
Hey, I am not a film critic who “thinks is probably the best film ever made by a Vietnamese director” but a good movie… I know it when I see it… that’s it.
Oliver Stone has made “Heaven and Earth” about Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese woman’s journey from war to peace.
The overall lack of “grown-up realities” keeps the film from becoming anticipatedly feel-good.
(When two GIs, on their way home, made indecent proposal but Le Ly finally made the decision for …better US-Vietnam relations?)
Here is an excerpt:
“…I looked over at the two marines. One was standing with his hands on his hips…The shorter one wore black-rimmed glasses and …he had the timid look of a teenager..
…Okay, Shorty first!…
…I rolled onto the cot and quickly pulled my pants down to my ankles…legs angled out like a pregnant lady awaiting to deliver…
…The GI … unbuckling his belt and lowering his pants…
…Carefully, as if the bed and I might break from his weight, he crept around and embraced me with his body…
…I found myself fighting a sudden urge to scream…The cot began creaking rhythmically…
…I could not take my eyes off this American…the pink beast who was just so grateful that he had finished his tour and had now left his seed in a final, nonlethal explosion…”
Have you seen any of these in “Heaven and Earth” film? Me neither.
Americans usually have two complaints with the movies they see:
too violent and too little nude scenes.
“If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face” and that’s a selling point, not just for hamburger.
So, stop making gangsta, kung fu chop chop movies and redirect actors “manpower” toward the “good sense” of Americans.
Could someone please make a movie I want to go see?
Billy Jack – from what I know, ViFF did invite such folks who you called “Who has weathered the storms through these growing pains periods” but none show up. So much for supporting the Viet community.
FYI, bolsavik is husband to the lady sitting at the right of the second to last photo. her name is Ysa Le, a controversial woman.