Vietnamese film arts: A scene from the short movie Another City by Phạm Ngọc Lan. — Photo filmfestivals.com

HÀ NỘI — The YDA Club, a cinema club dedicated to Vietnamese movies in Paris’ District 5, will present three short movies by Vietnamese independent filmmakers on April 16.

The screening will showcase In Smoke and Clouds – Letters from Panduranga by Nguyễn Trinh Thi, When I am 20 by Phan Đăng Di and Another City by Phạm Ngọc Lan.

In Smoke and Clouds is about the Panduranga, the Chăm name of Phan Rang, which is also the spiritual centre of the ancient Champa kingdom and the future site of the first two nuclear power plants in Việt Nam. It shows the start of a relation between two filmmakers, a man and a woman, who question their work, historical reflections and ethnographic and cultural policies.

The 37-minute film won an award in the category of Best Emerging Artist Using Digital/Video at the 2016 Prudential Eye Awards.

When I am 20 is about a young couple in love, living in a tiny room with a very low ceiling, preventing them from standing upright. The girl, who works as a prostitute to support her family, often talks to her boyfriend about her clients.

Another City follows the lives of city dwellers, where the urban landscape shapes human relationships: A mature woman, a bride and a group of youngsters seek closeness in the big city.

The screening will be followed by a discussion on independent cinema in Việt Nam, with directors Nguyễn Trinh Thi and Phan Đăng Di. All the movies will be screened with French subtitles. — VNS