Her story: The book Left-Handed tells true-life lesbian tales.

HA NOI — Two films depicting women’s lives will be shown this weekend at the Goethe Institute in the capital city, beginning at 7pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Dutch documentary Position Among the Stars, about an Indonesian family’s struggle to survive the hardships of daily life, will be shown with English and Vietnamese subtitles. It won the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for a Documentary Film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Armenia.

The Vietnamese film Trai Tim Be Bong (Little Heart), directed by Nguyen Thanh Van, has won many international and national awards and will be shown with English subtitles.

Along with the film screenings, a new book depicting the lives of lesbians and their families will be sold to help fund a project by the Swedish government.

The book, entitled Left-Handed, has been published by the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (Csaga).

Left-Handed was compiled from three books previously published by Csaga but with added information, said Bui Thanh Hoa from Csaga. The stories in Left-Handed are those of real people aged 18-30 who have contacted Csaga through its hotline and its website, bangaivn.net, she said.

“I wish all the stories could have a happy ending, but, despite having good jobs, these people’s lives have frequently been destroyed by discrimination from their family and society,” Hoa said.

For each human being, the right to love is the most valuable one in life, and yet there are many people in society who are suppressed in their rights to love, she said. The book will give readers insights into how lesbians live their lives and deal with their inner struggles and often painful suffering they are forced to endure in society. — VNS