Ever wondered “How come there aren’t more films about boat people?” - ”How come there aren’t more films about the Vietnamese community?” - ”How come there aren’t more films about April 30, the fall of Saigon?” - “How come there aren’t more films about young Vietnamese-Americans?”
There won’t be more films about anything unless Vietnamse-Americans as a community show support for the people who bleed sweat and tears creating such films.
Some of them are coming to UCLA this Sunday for a Cinema Symposium. This is the fourth time this biennial event has been held. This year features some well-known names such as Timothy Linh Bui (Green Dragon) and Ham Tran (Journey from the Fall), as well as some lesser known people such as Elyse Dinh. You may have seen her in Spider-Man 2, standing in the street, singing “Spider-Man, Spider-Man” offkey and screeching a violin.
Cinema Symposium is presented by Vietnamese Language and Culture (VNLC) in cooperation with VAALA (Vietnamese-American Arts & Letters Association), that organization that’s practically the only bridge between young artists and the rest of the Vietnamese-American community. It is a sad state of affairs in Bolsavikland that there isn’t another group doing the same thing. Come on! Somebody start something!
Here’s the press release on Cinema Symposium 4:
Cinema Symposium 4
“Filmmaking: the good, the bad, the Ugly”
Sunday April 13, 2008 at 2:30p.m.
Northwest DE NEVE Auditorium, UCLA (Park in Lot 8 )
370 De Neve Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095
www.vnlc.org www.vaala.org www.VietFilmFest.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mai Le Hong (408) 705-7485
Helena Hue Tran (714) 260-2308
FOURTH BIENNIEL CINEMA SYMPOSIUM CELEBRATES VIETNAMESE AMERICAN FILMMAKING on UCLA CAMPUS
Los Angeles, Calif. – UCLA’s Vietnamese Language and Culture (VNLC) and the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) partner up to present the fourth biennial Cinema Symposium titled “Filmmaking: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly,” featuring nine distinguished guest panelists who have contributed in raising the recent Viet Film Wave. Cinema Symposium 4 will be held on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at Northwest Auditorium on the UCLA campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
The distinguished guest panelists include: Timothy Linh Bui (Writer/Director/Producer, “Powder Blue”, “Green Dragon”), Elyse Dinh (Actress, “Green Dragon”, “Running in Tall Grasses”), Abraham Ferrer (Exhibitions Director, Visual Communications), Stephane Gauger (Writer/Director/Producer, “Owl and the Sparrow”), Elisabeth Huynh (Fox Film Acquisitions), David Ngo (Director, “The Queen from Virginia: The Jackie Bong Wright Story”), Ham Tran (Writer/Director/Producer, “Journey from the Fall”), Bao Tranchi (Costume Designer, “Journey from the Fall”, “America’s Next Top Model” Cycle 7, “Charlie’s Angels”), and Christopher Wong (Composer, “Journey from the Fall”, “The Rebel”).
This multi-dimensional panel will offer different angles on both artistic as well as business aspects of filmmaking. Cinema Symposium 4 sets on the theme “Filmmaking: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” to focus on the conflicts that artists encounter and eventually resolve them creating valuable contents for the cinema industry and Vietnamese American community. Each panelist will share with the audience his/her own challenges as well as achievements through his/her career pathway. The panel discussion will open up for audience members to dialogue with the panelists. Clips from some of the newest works will be shown at the event.
Cinema Symposium was created in 2002 by VAALA and VNLC and held every other year at UCLA to create a network between Vietnamese American professionals working in the film industry and students with an interest in film and the Vietnamese culture. The Cinema Symposium is held alternating between the bi-annual Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF). It seeks to promote works that are by or about Vietnamese Americans. The event also highlights the achievements of professionals in front of and behind the camera. Their accomplishments in this highly competitive industry help pave the way for other Vietnamese Americans and are an inspiration to many in the community at large.
The program of the event is as follows:
INTRODUCTION - Ysa Le & Mai Le Hong
PANEL DISCUSSION with showcase of film clips: 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
The panel discussion is moderated by Helena Hue Tran and Hong Van Nguyen.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS of short films followed by Q&A
“Break-up Therapy” by David Ngo
A documentary that tells one amazing break-up story through the combination of several true stories from real-life people
“Oh, Mommy!” (“M? ?i!”) by Jenni Trang Le
This is a journey of a Baby Quail to find courage, warmth and… his mommy.
“Spray It, Don’t Say It” (“Nhu C?u V? B?y”) by Tuan Andrew Nguyen in collaboration with Ha Thuc Phu Nam
A documentary that explores the underground graffiti scene and the main characters that make up this first generation of graffiti artists in Viet Nam.
For more information please contact
UCLA Office of Residential Life
UCLA Campus Programs Committee of the Program Activities Board
Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California
A new film directed by Timothy Linh Bui is now available on DVD, reuniting Timothy with Oscar-winning star Forest Whitaker and Patrick Swayze, plus other big names such as Jessica Biel and Ray Liotta.
