Archive - 12th Five Flavours Film Festival
Song Lang
Awards and festivals
Film description
Saigon in the 1980's. Dung works as a cold-hearted debt collector for Ms. Nga, a notorious money lender. Through chance Dung meets Linh-Phung, the main actor in a Cai-Luong theatre company who leads a solitary life. Despite their initial misconceptions about each other, the two eventually bond over a video game and discover that they kindred spirits and have many things in common.
Leon Le's debut feature film is already a very mature work and a proof of director's personal experience with stage acting and visual sensibility, which he practiced for years as a professional photographer. "Song Lang" is deeply rooted in traditional Vietnamese culture but at the same time presents a very contemporary story. The story, ingrained in fatalism and doom, is inspired by the classic narrative structure known from Vietnamese opera. Leon Le's debute film has also a lot in common with Richard Linklater's works, full of long talks during walks around the city and unexpected encounters between soulmates.
Maja Korbecka
Leon Quang Le
Born in 1977 in Saigon, he grew up in Vietnam until the age of 13 when he moved with his family to Southern California. After college he pursued his dream of stage performance and moved to New York City to begin a career in Musical Theater. After establishing himself as an accomplished actor, dancer and singer, including Broadway performances, he started to act in TV series and films, also in Vietnam. In the meantime he also pursued career as a photographer.
Leon Le is a self taught filmmaker, his short films "Dawn" (2012) and "Talking To My Mother" (2014) has gained him attentions at the film festival circuit. "Song Lang" is his debut feature film.
2012 Dawn (kr. m.)
2014 Talking To My Mother (kr. m.)
2018 Song Lang
