Catalogue > At random

Drowning Dew Trương Quế Chi & Đỗ Văn Hoàng 2017 | Color, sound, Vietnamese with English subtitles | 40 min  The film is a critical yet poetically fictional depiction of rapid changes of environment, landscape, human habits and society in Central Highlands of Vietnam. The film series contain 6 mini pieces that are loosely based on Jrai myth of posthumous metamorphosis. The myth acts as an open narrative framework, and as allegory of inevitable transformations of the area during this modernization and industrialization, which occur also in different regions in Southeast Asia. This is a work of Art Labor and created in collaboration with 2 filmmakers Truong Que Chi and Do Van Hoang, who have individually conducted researches on landscape, religion, ethnography and aesthetics in Central Highlands for long time.

Biography of Truong Que Chi and Do Van Hoang : 1/ Truong Que Chi : Truong Que Chi is a filmmaker, artist and curator based in Hanoi. Her personal practice examines the spectacle of the everyday violence in Vietnam. She is currently a curator of Nhà Sàn Collective and also a film lecturer at the Hanoi University of Theatre and Cinema. Her works have been featured at various local and international film festivals, exhibitions, and symposiums including among others Asian Film Focus 2017: Time Machine, Objectifs- Centre for Photography and Film (Singapore); Skylines with flying people 3, NSC (Vietnam); South by Southeast. A Further Surface, Times Museum (China); Oberhausen International Film Festival (Germany), Torino Film Festival (Italy). Truong Que Chi graduated with a Master’s degree in Film Studies from University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle. 2/Do Van Hoang : Đỗ Văn Hoàng (1987) graduated from the University of Theatre and Cinema at Hanoi. Some of his works include: “Underneath it All” (documentary, 17m), “At Water’s Edge” (documentary, 17m), “A Film on Sofa” (short film, 17m), “A Silent Shout” (short film, 20m), “False Brillante” (short film, 22m), “Drowning Dew” (a collaboration with Art Labor Collective, co-director with Trương Quế Chi). His works have been shown at Hanoi Docfest, Yamagata Film Festival, Centre Pompidou, Times Museum.