The premiere of "Canh Dong Bat Tan" (Floating Lives) in NYC

IVCE is pleased to announce the premiere of a new Vietnamese film, Canh Dong Bat Tan (Floating Lives), directed by Nguyen Phan Quang Binh.

Synopsis:

Set in the exquisitely beautiful Mekong Delta of Vietnam, the film tells the story of Mr. Vo and his daughter Nuong and his son Dien. Vo, a man wounded by his wife’s infidelity, has burned down his house and all his memories of the past. He has restarted his life with his two children, living a nomadic existence on a boat among the labyrinthine canals of the Mekong. He is an exile not because of the war- now only a distant memory in Vietnam-but from the modern life and materialism that he sees as the cause of his wife’s giving in to the temptations of self-indulgence. 

Twisted and made bitter by her betrayal, Vo takes revenge by using his attractive looks to cruelly abuse all women who fall in love with him, and at times even the daughter who looks more and more like her mother as she grows up. Vo becomes a man who cannot see love, while his son and daughter become emotionally twisted, inheriting their father’s hatred, distrust and coldness. It is only when the children rescue Suong, a prostitute, from being beaten by a mob of outraged women and, in spite of their father, take her into their life and form a surrogate family around her, that Suong’s physical and spiritual healing allows the children-and perhaps their father-to have their own healing, and their own reconciliation with love.

Based on Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu’s best selling short story "Canh Dong Bat Tan" (Boundless Rice Field), winner of the best short story prize from the Vietnam Writer’s Association in 2007 and more recently of the ASEAN Literature Award, “Floating Lives” will draw audiences into the colorful daily life of unsophisticated peasants who scratch out a living in the beautiful but unforgiving landscape of the immense, mysterious and prescient Mekong Delta, into the lives of characters whose strength, flaws, and beauty, portrayed as they search for the sustenance of life and love, tear at one’s heart. 

English subtitles

Nguyen Phan Quang Binh: 

Quang Binh started his directing career in 1996, after spending 15 years studying painting at the Hanoi Fine Arts College. His first feature film, “Song of the Stork” (co-directed with Jonathan Foo), has been purchased in more than 15 countries. It received “Best Feature Film” award from the Milano Film Festival, Italy (2002). 

Quang Binh was one of ten directors chosen from more than 500 entrants throughout Asia to receive funding from the National Geographic for a 30 minutes documentary, “Love Market in the Clowns” (2002). 

Do Thi Hai Yen

Hai Yen, born in 1982, is one of the most famous and versatile actresses of her generation. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Drama at the Golden Satellite Award (2002) for her role in The Quiet American directed by Philip Noyce. At film festivals in Vietnam she has received numerous honors and awards for her memorable role in Pao’s Story (2005) including the Golden Kite and Golden Lotus Award for Best Actress. She also starred in “Adrift,” directed by Bui Thac Chuyen (2009), “Song of the Stork,” directed by Jonathan Foo and Quang Binh (2000), and “Vertical Ray of the Sun,” directed by Tran Anh Hung (1999). She was a member of the International Jury for the Featured Film Competition “EurAsia” in the 10th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (2006), and the Meridian Film Festival (2007).

A discussion with director Mr. Quang Binh and actress Hai Yen will follow each screening.

7.00 – 9.00pm. Saturday April 9th, 2011.
Room 200. Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street & 5th Ave, NYC.
New York University
Admission: $15
Contact: IVCE, (860)478-0518