The YDA Club, a cinema club dedicated to Vietnamese movies in Paris’ District 5, will present three short movies by Vietnamese independent filmmakers on April 16.

A scene from the short movie Another City by Pham Ngoc Lan.

The screening will showcase In Smoke and Clouds – Letters from Panduranga by Nguyen Trinh Thi, When I am 20 by Phan Dang Di and Another City by Pham Ngoc Lan.

In Smoke and Clouds is about the Panduranga, the Cham name of Phan Rang, which is also the spiritual centre of the ancient Champa kingdom and the future site of the first two nuclear power plants in Vietnam. It shows the start of a relation between two filmmakers, a man and a woman, who question their work, historical reflections and ethnographic and cultural policies.

The 37-minute film won an award in the category of Best Emerging Artist Using Digital/Video at the 2016 Prudential Eye Awards.

When I am 20 is about a young couple in love, living in a tiny room with a very low ceiling, preventing them from standing upright. The girl, who works as a prostitute to support her family, often talks to her boyfriend about her clients.

Another City follows the lives of city dwellers, where the urban landscape shapes human relationships: A mature woman, a bride and a group of youngsters seek closeness in the big city.

The screening will be followed by a discussion on independent cinema in Vietnam, with directors Nguyen Trinh Thi and Phan Dang Di. All the movies will be screened with French subtitles. 

VNS