The slums of Ho Chi Minh City are bleak, unwelcoming spaces that don’t let in much sunlight. A Nigerian man goes about his day, apparently familiar with his environment. Has he lived here for long? He and the young son he left back home seem to be used to the meagre interaction that video calls allow. When his contract with a football team is terminated, he moves in with four middle-aged Vietnamese women. Together they revert to a primal state: cleaning, cooking, eating and sleeping together, and having sex.
First-time filmmaker Lê Bảo has composed a delicate, sensory meditation that conjures up many a thought in the viewer’s mind. Raw, intimate fears about isolation and survival. Questions such as: are humans really so superior to fearful, naked animals, bound as we are to turning around in circles, whether in small cages or around the globe? As he lays bare our judgmental selves, Lê Bảo instinctively echoes such tragically relevant issues as the betrayal of the promises of globalisation and emigration. But he also acknowledges humankind’s craving for tenderness and beauty. A visionary and uncompromising new voice in Asian and international cinema.
by Lê Bảo
with Olegunleko Ezekiel Gbenga, Thi Minh Nga Khuong, Thi Dung Le, Thi Cam Xuan Nguyen, Thi Tham Thin Vu
Vietnam / Singapore / France / Thailand / Germany / Taiwan 2021 Yoruba, Vietnamese 97’ Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Olegunleko Ezekiel Gbenga (Bassley)
  • Thi Minh Nga Khuong (Mien)
  • Thi Dung Le (Trang)
  • Thi Cam Xuan Nguyen (Hanh)
  • Thi Tham Thin Vu (Thuong)

Crew

Director Lê Bảo
Cinematography Vinh Phúc Nguyễn
Editing Lee Chatametikool
Sound Design Vincent Villa
Sound Hieu To
Production Design Van Thanh Le
Art Director Van Thanh Le
Costumes Que Thanh Nguyen, Tien Quang Nguyen
Assistant Director Hong Thu (Tina) Nguyen
Production Manager Thị Phương Thảo Đồng
Producers Weijie Lai, Thị Phương Thảo Đồng
Executive Producer Chayamporn Taeratanachai
Co-Producers Marie Dubas, Jean des Forêts, Markus Aldenhoven, Reik Möller
Co-Production Deuxième Ligne Films Ivry-la-Bataille
Petit Film Paris
Cinema 22 Bangkok
Senator Film Produktion Berlin
Effortless Work Taipei

World sales

Wild Bunch International

Produced by

Le Bien Pictures

E&W Films

Lê Bảo

Born in Vietnam in 1990, his interest in cinema began as a little boy looking through the small window of his house by the river in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City. He later learnt about cinema by watching foreign language films on his computer and became a cinephile. When he was 20, he borrowed an old camera and made his first short film. His short films Coal and Scent were shot in the area where he grew up. Vị is his debut feature film.

Filmography

2013 C ự c Than (Coal); short film 2014 Mùi (Scent); short film 2016 Vị (Taste); short film 2019 Unconsoled; short film 2021 Vị (Taste)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021