Rediscovering Hidden Cinematic Stories from Vietnam
Star Nhà Ease, the only film season in the UK dedicated to Vietnamese cinema, is back for its second year. Following a successful first season in 2024, the programme for 2025 will focus on films from Vietnam’s Đổi Mới era. This includes the energetic “instant noodle films” of the 1990s and the bold filmmaking that came after them.
The season, curated and presented by Tuyết Vân Huỳnh , features three main films: Hát Giữa Chiều Mưa (Singing in the Rainy Afternoon, 1990) , Gái nhảy (Bar Girls, 2002) , and Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist, 2021). There is also a powerful animated short and a documentary shorts strand, curated by emerging British Vietnamese and ESEA curators. These curators include Obin Nguyen, Quynh Nguyen Dieu, William Reynolds, Donald Shek, Austin Tran, Loan Tran, Thanh Tran, and Emma Wang Thomas.
Featured Films: A Closer Look
One of the highlights is Hát Giữa Chiều Mưa (Singing in the Rainy Afternoon), a 1990 film directed by Trần Phương. This nearly lost melodrama from the Đổi Mới era has never been released publicly anywhere but Vietnam and has been buried in an archive for 35 years. The film tells the story of Mai, a young woman who loses her sight in a fireworks accident. She finds comfort in music and forgiveness, even as her father seeks revenge. The film has a “whimsical, moving musical finale in the rain” and blends humor, sadness, and emotion. It has “all the style, pop music, and emotional depth that defined Vietnam’s ‘instant noodle’ cinema of the 80s and 90s,” and its screening is a premiere opportunity.
Another significant film is Lê Hoàng’s 2002 hit, Gái nhảy (Bar Girls). This film broke new ground by looking at the lives of young women in Vietnam’s sex and club scene. It explores “power, vulnerability, and agency in a rapidly urbanising Vietnam,” and it faces social changes through a frank viewpoint, showing the underground world these women live in.
The programme also includes Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist), a 2021 documentary by Hà Lệ Diễm. This film follows 12-year-old Di, a Hmong girl who is dealing with the cultural practice of bride kidnapping. It is a powerful story of “resistance and autonomy” and also examines the ethical questions that can arise in documentary storytelling. The film offers a “haunting and deeply human portrait of contemporary rural life and the challenges modernisation has to tradition”. Before this film, the animated short Xe Đạp (Bicycle, 2000) by Nguyễn Thị Phương Hoa will be shown. This short was made by a team of women who brought experimental ideas to Vietnamese animation.
Full Programme Dates, Times, and Locations
Rich Mix, London
3rd July, 20:15: Hát Giữa Chiều Mưa (Singing in the Rainy Afternoon)
12th July, 20:15: Gái nhảy (Bar Girls)
17th July, 20:15: Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist), with a screening of Xe đạp (Bicycle) beforehand
20th July, 14:30: Tides of Change: Shorts programme, featuring Grandfather and Grandson and Giữa dòng phù sa (Flowing with the Current)
3rd July – 12th August, during Rich Mix opening hours: Free Exhibition: REWIND & REFRAME
For Tickets
Cultplex, Manchester
6th July, 18:00 (Opening Night): Hát Giữa Chiều Mưa (Singing in the Rainy Afternoon)
13th July, 12:15: Gái nhảy (Bar Girls)
3rd August, 12:15: Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist), with a screening of Xe đạp (Bicycle, 2000) beforehand
23rd August, 12:15: Tides of Change: Shorts Programme, featuring Grandfather and Grandson and Giữa dòng phù sa (Flowing with the Current)
For Tickets
MAC, Birmingham (Screening Only)
12th July, 20:00: Gái nhảy (Bar Girls)
15th July , 19:30: Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist)
For Ticlets
The Garden Cinema, London (Screening Only)
19th August, 20:20: Hát Giữa Chiều Mưa (Singing in the Rainy Afternoon)
26th August, 18:00: Những đứa trẻ trong sương (Children of the Mist)
For Tickets
Beyond the Screen: Art and Discussion
The season goes beyond just film screenings. There’s a new visual art exhibition called “REWIND & REFRAME” at Rich Mix in London. This exhibition features three new artworks that reimagine Vietnamese film posters from the Đổi Mới era and beyond. Artists from Vietnam, the diaspora, and the wider ESEA community created these A1 posters, which offer “personal, political, and playful reinterpretations of cinematic history”. You can get these posters through a limited digital auction, and signed editions will go to the winning bidders on the festival’s final day.
There will also be live musical performances by artists like Nammy Wams, known for Grime and UK Drill. Shirley Ly, a self-taught British contemporary classical composer with Vietnamese and Chinese roots, will also perform. Additionally, An Trinh, a Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Glasgow, is seeking a music commission opportunity. Their work blends Vietnamese folk music with jazz, classical, and ambient styles, focusing on “themes of migration, memory, and cultural identity”. An Trinh is currently producing their debut EP, “The Space Between,” with UK producer David Simpson.
Poetry responses will be given by poets such as Natalie Linh Bolderston and Trà My Nguyen Hoang, who grew up in Hanoi and now photographs, writes, and talks about Dublin. Nam Anh Nguyen, a multifaceted individual with various professional and creative pursuits, including being a writer, artist, and community organizer based in Berlin, will also contribute.
A Growing Resource for Vietnamese Cinema
A major accomplishment this year is the creation of the first bilingual English-Vietnamese digital archive of Vietnamese cinema. Tuyết Vân Huỳnh developed this with help from TPD and the Vietnamese Film Institute. This free resource will include a film directory with summaries, reviews, and archive information in both languages, along with essays, reflections, and interviews from curators, filmmakers, and Vietnamese critics. It will also provide guidance on how to access films and downloadable transcripts for researchers. The archive link will be available in July or August 2025.
Star Nhà Ease is presented by Tuyết Vân Huỳnh. It receives support from Arts Council England , the British Council Connections Through Culture programme , and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, which awards funds from the National Lottery. The season works in collaboration with The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD) and the Vietnam Film Institute. The shorts programme gets additional support from Varan Hanoi.
For more details on the full programme and events, visit the Star Nhà Ease Instagram page.
