Distinguished scholars and filmmakers show clips of Vietnamese films, and discuss its history and practice.

Monday, October 29, 2007
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
306 Royce Hall
UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA 90095

This symposium celebrates the publication of the English translation of Ngo Phuong Lan's book, Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema.  The book provides a unique opportunity to examine filmmaking in Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora, including in the United States.  It will include discussion of the history of Vietnamese cinema, the challenges of filmmaking in Vietnam, and the place of Vietnamese film in the Asian cinema map.  A short film compilation of various Vietnamese feature films will also be shown to illustrate some of the topics discussed.

Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan's latest ground-breaking book, Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema is the first book written in Vietnamese by a Vietnamese about Vietnam film history to ever to be translated into English. Dr. Ngo is the Head of the Art Management Section at the Vietnam Cinema Department; Member of the Central Committee of Motion Picture Approval; and Chairperson, Committee of Theory and Criticism of the Vietnam Cinema Association.

One of the two English  translators of Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema is Philip Cheah, critic and author.  Cheah is also the Festival Director of the Singapore International Film Festival and the editor of BigO, Singapore's independent pop culture publication. He has co-edited And the Moon Dances: The Films of Garin (2004), Noel Vera’s Critic After Dark: A Review of Philippine Cinema (2005) and Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema by Ngo Phuong Lan (2007).

Phan Nhue Giang is a Vietnamese filmmaker, director of the internationally acclaimed 2002 film, "The Deserted Valley." 

Stephane Gauger was born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Orange County, California, where he graduated from California State University, Fullerton in theatre production and French literature. He began his film career in the camera and lighting departments on independent films in America and Southeast Asia. His feature debut, "Owl and the Sparrow," is touring film festivals worldwide, and will be released in Vietnam in January 2008.  He is currently directing a feature documentary on the music conservatories of Vietnam.

Minh 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 US 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.   He is the director of "Buffalo Boy," 2004.

Parking at UCLA costs $8.

Cost : Free and open to the public.

www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Asia Pacific Center, Asia Pacific Arts