Truong Minh Quy's film 'Viêt and Nam' premieres in theaters, signaling a shift in Vietnamese cinema

Truong Minh Quy's debut fiction feature 'Viêt and Nam' was released in theaters on September 25, 2024, following its screening at Cannes. The film, set in 2001, follows two miners searching for a missing soldier from the liberation war, blending historical periods and genres without reconstructing period settings, using contemporary Vietnamese landscapes. Quy, known for his award-winning shorts and 2019 film 'The Tree House', was selected for Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, though the Vietnamese government banned the film prior to the festival announcement. The narrative includes scenes of descent into mines, clandestine migration training, and a tragic escape, with a notable sequence in a barbershop-garage where a black concretion is extracted from an ear amid sparks. The film reflects a broader renewal in Vietnamese cinema, driven by a young generation of filmmakers like Pham Thiên Ân, whose 'The Golden Butterfly Tree' was a surprise at Cannes' 2023 Quinzaine des Cinéastes. Historically, Vietnamese cinema has been discreet and conventional, exemplified by 'The Scent of Green Papaya' (1993). Quy's work intertwines dimensions and registers to create resonances, focusing less on traditional narrative arcs and more on temporal and thematic connections, evoking the war's haunting presence despite his youth and the saturation of national propaganda films. The film runs 128 minutes and is distributed by Nour Films.