Back to Our Roots. Focus: Vietnam at the 20th Five Flavours
What better time to return to where it all began than on our 20th anniversary? To mark the 20th edition of Five Flavours, we return to Vietnam – the country whose cinema was at the heart of the festival from the very beginning. The choice was far from accidental: it grew out of Warsaw’s own context and the presence of a large Vietnamese community, which for decades has been helping to shape the fabric of the city and the history of the festival itself.
Today, twenty years on, we return to the cinema of a country shaped by the Mekong, which has changed beyond recognition. Focus: Vietnam chronicles this transformation, presenting films that revisit the country’s history, observe its rapidly changing present, explore genre cinema and tackle important social issues.
The Focus: Vietnam section will feature 8 films. The full programme will be announced on 20 October!
The films presented in the Focus: Vietnam section are productions made in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, when Vietnamese cinema surged forward to meet new challenges. Focused firmly on its home market, the local industry has proved remarkably strong and almost entirely self-sufficient. This does not, however, mean it is closed off from the outside world. Whilst filmmakers focus on the needs of the local market and their own audience, they are also making an increasingly confident mark on international film festivals and streaming platforms.
Returns and Debuts
The section brings together films by both filmmakers already familiar to Five Flavours audiences and a new generation of directors, working within new market realities and an ever-changing political climate. Leon Lê, whose Song Lang was one of the most memorable Vietnamese films in the festival’s history, takes us back to the streets of 1980s Saigon in the nostalgic and picturesque Ky Nam Inn. Bùi Thạc Chuyên also holds an important place in the festival’s history – we screened his Glorious Ashes at the very first edition, and in subsequent years we also presented his other films. Today, the director returns with Tunnels: Sun in the Dark – a striking historical drama that explores Vietnam’s wartime past from a local perspective and on its own terms.
The section’s programme also introduces new voices responding to the demands of a dynamic market, competing not only for success at the domestic box office but also for the hearts of Vietnamese audiences.
This new energy in Vietnamese cinema is embodied, for example, by Dương Minh Chiến, a stuntman making his directorial debut. His Chase for Amber is a no-holds-barred ride packed with twists and action, a daring genre film that showcases the growing ambitions of the local industry.
At the same time, however, the commercial success of domestic cinema does not mean there is no room for independent filmmakers. With his second film, Hearing, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Lê Bảo brings the pace down sharply against the backdrop of a film industry racing ahead at full throttle.
A Space for Encounters
We are curating the Focus: Vietnam section in the spirit of community. It is intended not only to be an inspiring cinematic experience, but also a space for intercultural exchange. We want the screenings to spark a conversation about a country that is changing faster than we can keep up with, but also about the experiences of the Vietnamese community, which has been part of Warsaw and the festival audience for decades. A large group of filmmakers behind the featured films will also be attending Five Flavours to meet audiences and be part of this shared experience.
First Titles
The Focus: Vietnam programme will feature eight feature-length films, the vast majority of which will be screened in Poland for the first time. Almost all of the films will be available to watch during the festival’s online edition.
Today we are unveiling the section’s first titles, offering a taste of what has been happening in Vietnamese cinema in recent years. The remaining films and a few exciting surprises will be revealed on 20 October, alongside the announcement of the full programme for the 20th Five Flavours.
Hearing / Thính Giác
dir. Lê Bảo, Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan 2026, 128’
[cinema + online]
Ninh works as a mechanic – he installs decibel meters in public and private spaces. When the devices indicate noise pollution, he looks more closely at those moments when silence can truly resonate. This reminds him of the broken relationships within his family: his longing for his ex-wife and children, and the silence between his parents. Lê Bảo’s poetic, sound-driven film traces a journey through lost connections and unspoken words – intimate and melancholic, it reveals the fragile emotions hidden beneath our deepest secrets.
Ky Nam Inn / Quán Kỳ Nam
dir. Leon Lê, Vietnam 2025, 140’
[cinema + online]
The latest film from the director of Song lang (2018). In post-war Saigon, a young translator named Khang moves into an old tenement block to focus on his new translation of The Little Prince. There, he meets Ky Nam, an older widow who earns a living as a cook.
When the woman has an accident, Khang offers to help her. The time they spend together brings them closer, and their neighbourly relationship gradually turns into an unspoken affection. This is overshadowed by social prejudices, the new political order and the still-vivid memory of the war.
Chase for Amber / Truy tìm long diên hương
dir. Dương Minh Chiến, Vietnam 2025, 103’
[cinema + online]
When a sacred whale figurine made of ambergris disappears from a fishing village, Tam, the temple guardian, sets off for Saigon, where the artefact has fallen into the hands of a gang of thieves. Accompanied by his brother, a friend and a childhood acquaintance, he finds himself right in the thick of a gang war. Scooter chases, skirmishes in dark alleyways and clashes at market squares are just the beginning of the challenges the protagonists will face. This directorial debut made with a team of stunt performers, is a blend of dynamic action and sharp comedy, showcasing the growing ambitions of Southeast Asian genre cinema.
Tunnels: Sun in the Dark / Địa đạo: Mặt trời trong bóng tối
dir. Bùi Thạc Chuyên, Vietnam 2025, 128’
[cinema only]
It is 1967, as the Vietnam War approaches its peak. Beneath the surface of the earth, in a ruined village near Saigon, lies the vast network of the Cu Chi tunnels, where a small Viet Cong guerrilla unit operates. A secret intelligence unit arrives at the underground base – the soldiers are ordered to protect it at all costs. As the unit becomes the main target of an American offensive, in the cramped corridors at the epicentre of the bombardment, the guerrillas fight not only for their own survival, but for the future of their cause.
