La chica de Dak Lak

Pedro Román, Mai Huyền Chi

Un impulso colectivo Vietnam, Spain 86 min Spanish premiere Fiction

Synopsis

Sương, a young girl from rural Vietnam, migrates to the bustling city of Saigon in hopes to find a job. She happens upon a small local eatery where she is offered a job working and living alongside two other migrant women. The three spend their days together. Within the caging, barren walls of the eatery, their mornings are filled with repetitive tasks, and the rest of the day with vacuous, tedious hours. Behind her veil of apathy, Sương battles a dilemma that she soon has to face with her family.

Presented by the directors

Themes

Asian CinemaSpanish CinemaComing-of-ageDocumentaryDramaFeminismSocial Issues

Filmmaker

Mai Huyền Chi

A graduate at the London Film School, Chi has earned writing credits for A Brixton Tale (Slamdance 2021) and My Mr. Wife before joining The Girl from Dak Lak as a co-director. Chi is currently developing The River Knows Our Names, about the stateless community on the Mekong River near the Cambodia-Vietnam border. Besides films, Chi collaborates with artists of different disciplines to produce dance films and performative multimedia works.

Filmography: La chica de Dak Lak (codirected, 2021, D'A 2022), Autumn Letters (short, 2021), Down the Stream (short, 2015)

Mai Huyền Chi

Pedro Román

Born and raised in Madrid, Pedro moved to London after finishing his degree in Media. It was in the British capital where he really started his filming career, working at a production company while developing a handful of shorts. He then moved to Ho Chi Minh City, where he developed his first feature film, The Girl from Dak Lak, with a clear intent to make a movie with only a script outline, non-professional cast, and a minimal crew.

Filmography: La chica de Dak Lak (codirected, 2021, D'A 2022), Him/Her (short, 2014), Cristina (short, 2014)

Pedro Román

Film information

Original Title: Cô gái đến từ Đắk Lắk - The Girl from Dak Lak
Director: Pedro Román, Mai Huyền Chi
Script: Pedro Román, Mai Huyền Chi
Contact: Haizea G. Viana
With: Y Sương, Hạnh Ruby, Trần Thị Thanh Trúc, Huỳnh Thị Phương, Trần Khánh Sơn
Country: Vietnam, Spain
Year: 2021
Format: DCP
Length: 86 min
Language: Vietnamese
Subtitles: Spanish
Edition: 2022

Poster

La chica de Dak Lak