1. Ephemeral
Phuc Khang Nguyen/ USA/ 2019/ 16 min
Employing a splitscreen juxtaposition of images throughout, Ephemeral is cinéma vérité reflecting on the experience that many refugees and undocumented immigrants go through because of war and bloodshed.
2. The Bridge Between Vietnam Traditional Music and the World
Hung Nguyen/ Vietnam,USA/ 2018/ 13 min
This documentary is about artist Ngo Hong Quang’s challenging journey to bring Vietnamese traditional music to the world and how it is received. It all starts with Ngo Hong Quang’s passion for music. After years of hard practice, Quang not only mastered Dan Nhi or Vietnamese two-string fiddle that is often thought to be a simple and monotonous traditional instrument but also creates rich and complex music with it.
Ngo Hong Quang became a lecturer of Traditional Music at the Vietnam National Academy of Music after he graduated from the same school. However, he did not want to limit himself as a music teacher; he dreamed of doing something different with Dan Nhi as well as other Vietnamese traditional music instruments in order to showcase unique Vietnamese arts and culture to both domestic and international audiences. The summers of 2006 and 2007 were his most memorable ones when he had two European tours that last from three to five months in Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. During these tours, he played various traditional instruments and sang folk songs for audiences made up of overseas Vietnamese and local foreigners. Music became the bridge to connect people together with love.
The local audience was astonished at the Vietnamese traditional music. They attentively listened during the course of his ninety-minute show and later asked him a lot of interesting questions that excited and inspired him to explore more in his musical journey later.
Thanks to that encouragement, Quang has been performing traditional musical instruments for foreign audiences. On Tet (Vietnamese lunar new year holiday) 2008, Quang was greatly honored to have a fifteen-minute performance at Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carré.
3. Le Van Khoa: A Lifetime of Arts
Thu Tran/ USA/ 2018/ 77 min
Lê Văn Khoa, a composer, photographer and educator, came to the United States as a war refugee from Vietnam in May 1975. This documentary movie highlights over 65 years of his journey and devotion to preserve Vietnamese culture, music and arts; his nurturing of younger generations to become music performers and composers; and his lifelong commitment to transcend Vietnamese music beyond the borders of a country to reach the whole world.
Q&A 20 min
