German and local filmmakers will gather at Mini Docfest documentary festival hosted by Hoa Sen University in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 on March 19-20.

Participants will have a chance to watch short documentaries of Professor Michael Brynntrup from Berlin and his students from Braunschweig University of Art, Germany from 6pm to 7pm on March 19, followed by a discussion with Brynntrup on experimental films.

The next day, two local independent filmmakers, Truong Minh Quy and Tran Minh Duc, will present their creations from 6pm to 7pm and join Professor Brynntrup in an exchange with audiences from 7.30pm to 9 pm.

Brynntrup, born in 1959 in Muenster, has lived in Berlin since 1982. He has produced over 70 films, short experimental videos and four feature films. He had exhibitions at Modern Art Museum in New York in 1987, 1992 and 1999 and has won awards at many international film festivals. Since 2006, he is a professor at the faculty of film/video at Braunshweig University of Art.

Truong Minh Quy, born in 1990 in the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot, graduated from the HCMC Theater and Cinema University in 2008. He joined the Asian Film Academy - Busan International Film Festival in 2012 and Berlinale Talents at Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. Currently, he works for Zero Station, an art space in HCMC.

Tran Minh Duc graduated from HCMC College of Culture and Arts. He has worked for San Art, a collaborative working space based in HCMC, since 2011. Duc together with Nguyen Kim To Lan and Sophie Hughes has created Me Phim (passionate about films) group to host film screenings and provide updates about budding filmmakers in the city.

Sponsored by Goethe Institut in HCMC, Hanoi DocLab and San Art and hosted by Art House Saigon under Hoa Sen University, the event will be presented in both Vietnamese and English. Participants are advised to register with prog@saigon.goethe.org by March 17, stating names, number of attendees and date of attendance.

SGT