Underplayed Gems

Surname Viet Given Name Nam (1989)

Surname Viet Given Name Nam poster
Original title
Surname Viêt Given Name Nam
Directed by
Trinh T. Minh-ha
Genre
documentary film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 48m
Rating
5.5 of 10 from 13 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

The film examines how Vietnamese women's identities connect to their homeland. It is built from interviews about growing up and living after the war. The interviews were originally published in French and then performed by Vietnamese American women. No footage was shot in Vietnam.

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What happens

Surname Viet Given Name Nam is een documentaire film uit 1989 van de Vietnamese filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha.. Het onderwerp van de film is de relatie tussen een land en de vrouwelijke identiteit. In de film staan interviews met Vietnamese vrouwen centraal over het opgroeien en het leven in de naoorlogse periode. Het bijzondere aan de film is dat er geen enkele opnames zijn gemaakt in Vietnam zelf. Minh-ha heeft een Franse publicatie gebruikt van vertaalde interviews uit het Vietnamees. Na de tekst te hebben vertaald naar het Engels zijn deze voorgedragen door Vietnamees-Amerikaanse vrouwen. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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