Floating Lives

FILM SCREENING
April 11, 2011, 7:30 P.M.
Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, 53 Wall Street

"Floating Lives"
Canh Dong Bat Tan
Discussion with Director, Quang Binh and actress, Hai Yen

Director, Phan Quang Binh Nguyen; Producer: Thi Bich Hanh Ngo
Cast: Dustin Nguyen, Do Thi Hai Yen, Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc, Tang Thanh Ha.
2010; 113 minutes; Vietnamese with English subtitles

Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKxjotdxceg

"A sensuous and timeless film on love, loss and yearning... A sensual experience of breathtaking scenery that also reflects the story’s shifting moods, the film is constantly gentle flowing movement, like the Mekong River that is the soul of the story, as well as a metaphor for the characters' lives." (Maggie Lee, October 12, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter)

SYNOPSIS
Set in the exquisitely beautiful Mekong Delta of Vietnam, the film tells a story of Mr. Vo and his children: 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 on a boat in nomadic existence among the labyrinth 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 reason for his wife giving into the temptations of self-indulgence.

Twisted and made bitter by her betrayal, Vo takes revenge by abusing all women who fall in love with him, and at times, his daughter who, growing up, looks more and more like her mother. Vo's son and daughter are becoming 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 - their own reconciliation with love.

Based Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu's best selling short story "Boundless Field," winner of the best short story prize from the Vietnam Writer's Association in 2007 and more recently the ASEAN Literature Award, Floating Lives will draw audiences into the colourful daily life of characters scratching out a living in the beautiful but unforgiving landscape of the immense, mysterious and prescient Mekong Delta - characters whose strength, flaws and beauty, as they search for the sustenance of life and love, tear at one's heart.

DUSTIN NGUYEN (Vo)
After escaping from Vietnam with his family on the day Saigon fell in 1975, Dustin Nguyen went on to establish himself as one of Hollywood's premiere Asian-American actors, co-starring with Johnny Depp in the hit television show 21 Jump Street (Detective Harry Ioki; 1987-1991) and in Seaquest DSV (Chief William Shan; 1993-1996), as well as feature films Finishing the Game (Sundance Film Festival selection 2008) Little Fish (2005), Heaven & Earth (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and No Escape, No Return (1993). His role in Little Fish earned him the 2007 Asian Excellence Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2000, Dustin's martial arts expertise was showcased when he starred in Levi's Jeans' European "Hero" campaign. The campaign was uniquely groundbreaking in that it was the first time Levi's had ever used an Asian star in their awarded winning campaigns.

He played leading roles in Vietnamese movies, The Rebel (2007) and The Legend Is Alive (2009), winning the Best Actor award at the 2009 Vietnam Golden Kite Awards and Favorite International Actor award at the China Golden Rooster Awards for his role in the latter. He was also a Director and screen writer for the movie Monk on Fire (2007). In April 2010, Dustin's newly formed production company, Early Risers Media Group, released their first feature film, De Mai Tinh (Fool for Love). This romantic-comedy, which Dustin wrote, produced and starred in, broke Vietnam's box-office record for an April release.

DO THI HAI YEN (Suong)
Hai Yen was born in 1982 and is one of the most famous actresses of her generation in Vietnam. She grew up in Hanoi and graduated from the Vietnamese Ballet School after seven years of study.

In 1999, director Tran Anh Hung invited Hai Yen, only 17 at that time, to play a role in the movie The Vertical Ray of the Sun (France). The film was nominated at the Chlotrudis Awards in 2002. In 2001, Hai Yen was selected in a competition of more than 2,000 candidates from Vietnam and overseas to play the pivotal female character in The Quiet American, directed by Philip Noyce, and starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. It was the first time in Vietnam’s history that a Vietnamese actress was selected as a leading English speaking character in a Hollywood movie. In 2002 she was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role-Drama at the Golden Satellite Awards for her performance in this Academy Award nominated film.

Hai Yen has received numerous accolades and awards for her memorable role in Pao's Story (2005), which she helped produce, including the Golden Kite and Golden Lotus Award for Best Actress at Vietnam Film Festivals. She also starred in Song of the Stork directed by Jonathan Foo and Quang Binh (2000) and Adrift directed by Bui Thac Chuyen (2009).

She was a member of the International Jury for the Featured Film Competition "EurAsia" in 10th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2006 and Meridian Film Festival 2007.

NGUYEN PHAN QUANG BINH (Director)
Quang Binh began his directing career in 1996. He initially spent 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 sold in more than 15 countries. It received "Best Feature Film" award from the Milano Film Festival, Italy in 2002, and was invited to participate in many other film Festivals around the world such as Paris Film Festival, Taormina Film Fest, Montreal Film Festival, Quebec Film Festival, Bangkok Film Festival and Singapore Film Festival.

Quang Binh's TV work has been considered innovative. He is one of the first to direct reality shows in Vietnam. His talent search reality show "Cung Uoc Mo Xanh" was voted the best show in Vietnam in 2004.

Quang Binh was also the Executive Producer for the feature film White Silk Dress, official selection for "New Currents" section at Pusan International Film Festival, Torino Film Festival and Mannheim Heideberg International Film Festival. He has produced many top box office movies and TV series in Vietnam including Every Inch of Beaut" and The Brilliant Kisses.