AUGUST LETTERS
documentary
2021
26'
Kyoto University’s Visual Documentary Project, Best of
“Till Later Letters”, Group Exhibition, Á Space, Vietnam,
Kyoto International Film and Art Festival, Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
Overshare Film Festival, Testing Grounds, Melbourne, Australia,
“Fractured Lens: Memory, Archive, and Photography at an Intersection”, screening & artist talk, Sàn Art, Saigon, Vietnam,
Best Film, Visual Documentary Project, Kyoto University,
2021
2022
2023
2023
2023
2021
Xuan Ha and I wrote to each other.
August is when I celebrate the anniversaries of my father's death and my nephew's birth. August makes me think of death, life, and the ends and the beginnings.
I asked Ha, "Do you want to do this with me?" I think I was not ready to face this by myself. One does not heal after losing a loved one. Parts of you died with them. We should embrace that and wear the void they left behind as part of our luggage.
Making this film was a journey I was not prepared for. I had not seen the photos of the funeral. I had laughed at the idea of having photos taken when my sister asked me to ask my friend Giang to take them. I was always gung-ho about protecting my private emotions from the eyes of the public.
Six years later, I looked at them. I saw something new when I looked at them to evaluate, study, and arrange for this little film. There was too much. Some were left out. No film can contain LIFE.
The film evolved as I evolved in the re-examination of my feelings. I thought I would delve into the line of departure for Ba and arrival for Gin.