21 A Shade of Paradise Vietnam Drama / HD / English / Vietnamese / 90 mins PHAM Siu Director: PHAM Siu Producer: NGUYEN Hoang Diep HAF Goals: Funds, Co-producers, Pre-sales Budget: US$414,275 Secured Budget: US$87,750 Director’s Filmography: 2013 Homostratus 2010 Here... or There? Two teenagers in present-day Vietnam face the rough, comic and nostalgic realities of a society in wild stages of development as they lose their virginity and come of age. Synopsis A small city of Vietnam. A handful of musicians playing traditional funeral music lead a procession of two coffins trailed by two adolescents, Mai, the girl, is 17 years old and, Vinh, her young brother, 15, are on the way to the cemetery. Left alone abruptly, from now on, they have to leave school and find a job to survive. In a popular bar, Mai meets two strangers who find themselves lost in Vietnam, having left their country to another in search of cheap, easy living. She takes them home. Vinh finds a job as servant to an old, blind dancer who lives alone in an enormous run-down house. Mai lets each of the two men into her room at night, one at a time. She casually loses her virginity to them without feeling. Vinh, meanwhile, has entered the strange world of an eccentric blind dancer from a bygone era. He is drawn to this fading world that evokes nostalgia for Seeking employment, Mai answers some hiring tests, without success. Given their precarious situation, the two strangers seize on the idea that the blind dancer must have hidden money somewhere in her house. They pressure Vinh to find out what can be stolen from the old lady. Under their pressure, Vinh lies that he knows the hiding place, but says he will call the police if these strangers don’t leave. In the night, lightning flashes on the old lady’s house, while the two strangers leave town. The next morning, when Vinh goes to the house of the old blind dancer, an ambulance is there taking the body of the old lady out. Once again, two adolescents face the stark reality of their situation, but this time, they are without the “virginity” and innocence of their childhood. The film opens with the sudden death of both parents – signifying a vacuum of moral authority as the two teenagers are left alone and unprepared for life. Their topsy-turvy transition to adulthood makes for an intense state where “normal” is suspended, and life is encountered as a kind of game. The line between acceptability and deviance becomes blurred. Between the realities of survival and the hopes of their idealised youth, they meet the difficulty of finding a job. The state of the world is reflected in the situation of the two strangers looking to escape the harsh conditions of their homeland, by traveling to a country where living is much less expensive. Yet their circumstances are still desperate enough to move them to commit robbery or murder. of Geneva and later attended Conservatory of Popular Theater in Geneva. She received Butoh dance training with Myriam ZOULIAS for several years. Her well-known fiction features included Here or... There? (2010) and Homostratus (2013). Producer NGUYEN Hoang Diep Born in 1982, NGUYEN is a prominent face among the independent filmmakers in Vietnam. In 2008, NGUYEN founded VBLOCK Media, an independent studio focused on producing art films and experimental projects. From 2010 to 2013, her first feature film Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere premiered at Venice Film Festival and won the FEDEORA Award as Best Film of the 29th Venice International Film Critics’ Week. The film has been invited to many famous international film festivals, including Toronto and Busan. Production Company And the old blind dancer in an immense dilapidated house symbolises the lost universe of artistic and poetic old values. VBLOCK Media Sexuality in this film is intentionally non-conforming. During adolescence, sexuality can be anything or everything. It belongs to his (or her) inner shade of Paradise or of Hell. The sister decides, causally, to lose her virginity. The brother has his first sexual act with the dancer, an embrace of his lost mother. Founded in 2008 by several young filmmakers, VBLOCK Media has been persevered in becoming an independent studio for art films and experimental projects. VBLOCK maintains its operations by performing and producing profitable audiovisual products in areas such as commercials. The film never bases its narrative expression on actions but on their consequences. The intention is to take what happens to these characters and reveal these situations in their metaphorical form. In 2009, VBLOCK Media co-produced the independent film Bi, Don’t Be Afraid! by director PHAN Dang Di. In 2014, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere by NGUYEN Hoang Diep premiered at Venice and then won the FEDEORA Award as Best Film of the Critics’ Week. VBLOCK Media is now implementing other independent film projects. This will be used to show the spirit of a young generation who faces rough reality by passive responses. This attitude reflects a society approaching development, which one day to another lost its old values for the savage meaningless of a new life... A real-time approach allows for the natural expression of these soul-moving characters, permitting the viewer to accept the tempo of nonchalance. Director PHAM Siu Screenwriter and director PHAM Siu (PHAM Thi Nhung) is among the rare female filmmakers in Vietnam. She studied History of Art in the University Contact LE XUAN HANH Ly VBLOCK Media R12A05, A2 Block 54, lane 85, Ha Dinh street, Thanh Xuan, Ha Noi, Vietnam Tel: +84-912061950 Email: [email protected] [email protected] HONG KONG - ASIA FILM FINANCING FORUM 2015 HONG KONG - ASIA FILM FINANCING FORUM 2015 92 Mai begins to apprentice at a hairdresser job, but she is fired after two days. Vinh tries to work as motorbike-keeper or shoes-cleaner in vain. his mother. They end up making love – it is his first sexual experience. Director’s Statement 93