1 April 2023
Việt Vũ among jury members for Go Short 2023
One jury judges both the Dutch Competition and the New Arrivals Competition. The Dutch Competition offers a stage to home-grown talent. The films in this competition have a chance to win the VEVAM / Go Short Award. The films in the New Arrivals Competition have a chance to win the Encouragement Award, a prize that stimulates and inspires young and new talent. The (young) makers of the films in this competition come from all over Europe.
Meet the Jury for Dutch and New Arrivals competitions:
- Việt Vũ, filmmaker (a.o. The Eternal Springtime)
- Carla Vulpiani, a.o. advisor of the Venice Internation Film Festival, producer, co-founder of Varicoloured.
- Alice Brygo, filmmaker (Soum)
- Roosje van der Kamp, philosopher, critic, writer and journalist (a.o. Het Parool and Filmkrant)
- Pedro Sara, photographer, journalist and filmmaker (a.o. Casablanca to Return)
https://www.goshort.nl/meet-the-jury-go-short-2023-15/
17 October 2022
Việt Vũ’s commences his doctoral artistic research
Since September 2022, I started my PhD practice-based project in Belgium. The project is an artistic research and the outcome will be a feature-length experimental documentary film.
This project is co-supervised between @ARIA, the #universityofantwerp, and @sintlucasantwerpen, @_slarg_ . I’m still feel blessed by the supervision and promotion of my dear professors Dr. @philippemeers, Dr. @SofieVerdoodt, Dr. @petra.vanbrabandt and other supervisors here. I’m also very thankful to be in this multi-disciplinary group of artists and researchers.
Here are some photos of Viet Vu’s participation in the intense Research Week and the group exhibition at @sintlucasantwerpen between 10-16th October.
The images of the exhibition were taken by @danialshah
2 September 2022
“The Eternal Springtime” selected into SHORTS MÉXICO
Thrilled to announce thatThe Eternal Springtime,by Việt Vũ, is an Official Selection at the XVII Shorts México, Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes de México.
SHORTS MÉXICO, isthelargest international short film festival in Latin America. It istheonly international short film festival in Mexico.
The Eternal Springtime is a short documentary candidate for the Hollywood Oscars.
14 April 2022
Viet Vu among the jury panel for This Is Short 2022
THIS IS SHORT’s European online competition the New Point Of View presenting 23 short films from 20 countries will be judged by three exceptional members of film, media and art industry. They will decide on two prizes (totaling 6,000 euros), which will be awarded on June 21 at the NPOV Award Ceremony!
Three jury members are:
➕ Robin Curtis
A film theorist, critic, media scholar and Chair of Media and Cultural Studies at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany.
➕ Natalia Sielewicz
A curator at Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Poland, specializing in the intersection of video art, technology and performative studies.
➕ Việt Vũ
A Vietnamese-born filmmaker and film critic known for his series of audio-visual works on queer themes and memories of marginalized communities.
This Is Short is a collaborative project by the European Short Film Network, currently consisting of the four festivals Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (NL), International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (DE), Vienna Shorts – International Short Film Festival (AT) and Short Waves Festival (PL).
1 April 2022
"An Act of Affection’ inside Festival Favorites of This Is Short
“An Act of Affection” has been curated inside the Festival Favorites section of 2nd This Is Short – a collaborative project by the European Short Film Network, currently consisting of the four festivals Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (NL), International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (DE), Vienna Shorts – International Short Film Festival (AT) and Short Waves Festival (PL).
It is being shown online right now on This Is Short from 1st to 7th April, 2022.
17 March 2022
USA Premiere + Best Fiction Short Award for "The Eternal Springtime"
The Eternal Springtime is an official selection at the 49th Athens International Film + Video Festival, which takes placein-person April 1-7, 2022 in Athens, Ohio.
The screening at this incredible Oscar qualifying festival will be at the historic Athena Cinema.
Meanwhile, the film has won Best Fiction Short at the 4th Rain International Nature Film Festival, Kerala, India.
https://mailukifilms.com/2022/03/16/usa-premiere-3/
15 December 2021
"The Eternal Springtime" won Best Documentary Short Film Award, eligible for Oscars 2023 nomination
Viet Vu’s ‘Mua Xuan Vinh Cuu’ (The Eternal Springtime) recently won the Grand Prix Documentary Short at the International Cork Film Festival in Ireland to automatically make the long list nomination for the Best Documentary Short category at the 95th Academy Awards.
12 December 2021
‘My Own Room’ was awarded Wildcard, VAF in the FilmLab Selection 2021
The Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) is the beating heart of the Flemish film industry and actively supports young, emerging film talent. To this end, the VAF annually awards “Wildcards” to the most promising graduation projects of bachelor or master students from Flemish film schools in Belgium. The wildcards are allocated by a specific jury per category and are traditionally awarded at the Leuven Short Film Festival.
The winners of the VAF Wildcards Awards 2021:
🏆 The VAF Wildcard for Fiction is for Aulona Fetahaj with Passé Imparfait.
🏆 The documentary Wildcard is for Camille Ghekiere with Nieuwkomers. With special announcements for A Country in a Corner by Neema Ngeli.
🏆 Viet Vu wins the VAF Wildcard in the FilmLab selection with My Own Room.
🏆 Anne Verbeure receives the VAF Wildcard for animation for her film Red Reus .
🏆 VAF Wildcard for Scenario goes to Linde Gossens with her film De Branding.
News in Dutch:
https://www.filmfestival.be/nl/nieuws/met-vijf-wildcards-trekt-vaf-de-kaart-voor-de-toekomst
https://www.cinevox.be/nl/dit-zijn-de-winnaars-van-kortfilmfestival-leuven-2021/
English:
https://www.docnomads.eu/news/599-docnomads-films-awarded-at-leuven-short-film-festival-belgium
11 November 2021
Viet Vu among five Southeast Asian Filmmakers into SEAFIC SEEDLAB
Five filmmakers from Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have been selected to participate in the inaugural Seed Lab, operated by the non-profit Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab.
The new program helps promising shorts filmmakers explore their directorial voices prior to the development of their first features. It is being operated in partnership with the Festival des 3 Continents’ Produire au Sud program.
The first session of Seed Lab will run online December 4-10, 2021, with a second in-person session in Phuket, Thailand, in early April 2022.
San Danech from Cambodia had previous shorts that won prizes at the Singapore Film Festival and was selected in Busan’s Wide Angle competition. The Philippines’ Sam Manacsa is an Asian Film Academy alumnus whose most recent short was in competition in Clermont-Ferrand. Singapore’s Shoki Lin, was in Cannes’ Cinefondation and won awards at festivals worldwide with “Adam.” CalArts graduate Tulapop Saenjaroen from Thailand made video essays that were previously screened at Rotterdam and the Locarno Leopards of Tomorrow competition. And Vietnam’s Viet Vu, a Berlinale Talents alumnus, had shorts in the Rotterdam Tiger and Locarno Leopards of Tomorrow competitions.
The program’s mentors include: director Juho Kuosman from Finland; producerIsabelle Glachantfrom France and China; Guillaume Mainguet, head of Produire au Sud, script consultant Franz Rodenkirchen (Germany); andSEAFICexecutive directorRaymond Phathanavirangoon.
SEAFIC has previously operated script and development labs for Southeast Asian filmmakers in order to strengthen the quality of fiction films from the region. The parallel producers’ lab SEAFICxPAS is run jointly with Produire au Sud.
From:
https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/seafic-lab-for-southeast-asia-short-film-makers-1235107983/
14 March 2021
‘The Eternal Springtime’ under Southeast Asian cinema in thespotlight
A review on three Southeast Asian shorts “Tellurian Drama”, “Lemongrass Girl” and “The Eternal Springtime” by Jason Tan Liwag.
Decolonizing images
The deep colonial doors are addressed by recent efforts of filmmakers to decolonize filmic images. This is none truer for Vietnam, whose filmic history has also been largely influenced by its narratives of war as constructed by the U.S such as “Apocalypse Now” and even “Da 5 Bloods.” Vietnamese filmmakers and film critics have made an effort todepict post-war reconstructions of Vietnamese lives: not only with how the war ravaged the economy, but also with how it changed the landscape towards a more urbanized setting.
Unlike many others, Việt Vũ began his filmmaking career by first critiquing films, working as a film critic for two years in an online news outlet. His entry into image-making was through the 2017Hanoi Doclab— an experimental and documentary workshop series for emerging talents in Vietnam. It was here that he began exploring the themes of memory, time, and internal de-colonization through moving images, eventually creating shorts such as “The Ant-Man” and “An Act of Affection.”
His art-house docufiction “The Eternal Springtime” sees a mother and son returning to nature in the hopes of revitalizing themselves. Vũ captures two relationships as he transitioned from childhood to adulthood: his own relationship with his mother and his relationship with the rapidly changing hometown, whose forest and greenery was replaced by a concrete jungle. The opposing forces — one stable and life-giving, one anxiety-dealing — create tensions that are present throughout, forcing the characters towards an internal pilgrimage while on the excursion.
“After I edited and watched the entire film, I felt that the still image was very nice because I felt that there are many movies that are aggressive.” The personal portrait plays with visual styles: long static takes at the beginning are later traded for photo-manipulated still images. “For the climax of this film, the still images make the film looser. It becomes more peaceful and more calm. With the still image, it feels healing and motherly.” Vũ externalizes through filmic imagery the internal changes within the characters, returning them to their matriarchal upbringing and liberating them from colonial and societal imprisonments from within.
7 February 2021
‘Ant-Man’ among Contemporary Voices: The Past and Present of Vietnamese Cinema in Japan
“Ant-Man” is curated together with four other Vietnamese short films and seven features by Fukuoka City Film Archive, Fukuoka, Japan.
3 January 2021
Berlinale Talents 2021 announces participants, including Viet Vu
https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/talent/trung-phamquang/profile
24 December 2020
‘The Eternal Springtime’ world premiere at 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2021/films/the-eternal-springtime
17 July 2020
‘An Act of Affection’ has world premiere at Locarno filmfestival
– Full line up of Locarno 2020, including “An Act of Affection” in the International Short Competition:
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/locarno-film-festival-43-short-films/
– Portguese co-productions go to Locarno Film Festival 2020:
9 August 20218
‘Ant-Man’ won top prize at SeaShorts Film Festival
The prize was given by the jury panel led by Rithy Panh (Cambodia), Philip Cheah (Singapore) and Pimpaka Towira (Thailand).
Jury verdict: The cerificate is presented to “Ant-Man” for its originality in personifying in vivid and immediate terms a symbol of oppression that makes people rot from inside and whether one can resist”.
Further news by https://www.finas.gov.my/en/seashorts-film-festival-announces-winners/
Georgetown, 5 Aug– 2nd SeaShorts Film Festival announced the award winners of the juried sections of its 2nd edition, which celebrates its closing ceremony on Sunday night.
Organized by Next New Wave with the support of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), SeaShorts Film Festival 2018 held from August 1st – 5th 2018 in conjunction with George Town Festival, aims to celebrate the voices of aspiring young filmmakers and to embrace into cinematic excellence of 120 short films across Southeast Asia.
Below is a complete listing of the award-winning short films:
1. Purin Award:
The ‘Ant Man’ by Việt Vũ (Pham Quang Trung) (Vietnam)
2. Best Next New Wave Award:
a. High Way by Chia Chee Sum (Malaysia)
b. Kampung Tapir by Aw See Wee (Malaysia)
3. Best Achievement In Post-Production Award :
High Way by Chia Chee Sum (Malaysia)
4. Bophana Award:
Another Dimension by Kritsada Nakagate (Thailand)
5. Best Cinematography Award:
Bangkok Dystopia by Patipol Teekayuwat (Thailand)
