Oppression, Statelessness, Demolition Themes Drive Vietnam Projects at Southeast Asia Film Lab – Singapore

Diverse aspects of the human condition are key drivers of the projects from Vietnam selected at the Southeast Asia Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.Linh Dan Nguyen Phan went to film school in New York and then went to Vietnam and worked as a cinematographer and also directed a few shorts. The filmmaker’s debut feature, “If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood,” adapted from the autobiographical novel “Tam Van Phong Dao” by Vietnamese comedian Mac Can, will delve into his childhood as the middle child in a family-run traveling circus. The film centers on the three siblings who, together, sustain their family by performing a knife throwing act.The abiding theme of the film is oppression. “Women in peril has been a trend in entertainment, the smaller the weaker the girl put in danger was, the more thrilling the performance is,” says the filmmaker. ...