Festival Note
A fisherman rescues a mermaid from a fish market. In appreciation, the mermaid performs a dance for her hero. In this unusual, dialogue-free fable, directors Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc and Đoàn Thanh Toàn spin a tale through dance and movement.
Nilagtas ng isang mangingisda ang isang sirena mula sa isang palengke ng isda. Bilang pagpapahalaga, nagsagawa ng sayaw ang sirena para sa kanyang bayani. Sa isang kakaibang pabula na walang diyalogo, ang mga direktor na sina Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc at Đoàn Thanh Toàn ay nagkukwento sa pamamagitan ng sayaw at paggalaw.
Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc is a filmmaker and film editor based in Saigon, Vietnam. Phuc’s debut short film, “Slowly and Painfully”, was selected for “Dispatches from the Mekong Region: Vietnam” as part of SeaShorts Film Festival 2022. Phuc was a selected participant for UNESCO’s On The Reel Film Lab 2021, and became one of the three winners of the Lab’s awards. As an editor, he has also worked on various films including Coi (2020 International Film Fest Rotterdam Official Selection) and Memento Mori: Earth (2022 Busan International Film Festival Official Selection). Phuc is currently working on his next film, titled “Bury Us in Lone Desert.”
Đoàn Thanh Toàn is a choreographer and movement artist based in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Toan was trained in Contemporary Indian dance technique Yorchha™ with Ananya Dance Theater and African-based movement with Brown Spirit Ensemble. After years of performing with the companies, the artist started experimenting with different modes of performance-making at Vietnamese art spaces including MoT+++, San Art, A. Farm, Time Between, and the Goethe Institut, making solos as well as collaborative works with other sound, performance, and visual artists. His most recent project, the dance film Buoyant (2023) is Toan’s directorial debut.