Hearing
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Theatrical Screenings
Kinoteka 1
Kinoteka 3
Online Availability
Additional Materials
Film description
Ninh works as a technician, installing decibel meters in public and private spaces. Whenever the devices detect noise pollution, he pays closer attention to those rare moments where silence is allowed to truly resonate. This reminds him of the fractured relationships within his own family: the longing for his ex-wife and children, and the heavy silence between his parents. Following Taste (2021), which heralded the emergence of a new wave in Vietnamese arthouse cinema while simultaneously facing censorship at home, Lê Bảo once again focuses on the human sensorium, this time placing the sense of hearing at the centre of his exploration.
In his second feature, which premiered in the main competition at the Locarno Film Festival, the director crafts a distinct poetics tailored to his theme. The film features surreal sequences detached from narrative flow, immersed in sounds imbued with specific meaning. Lê Bảo suggests that in contemporary Saigon, acoustic pollution may reflect the sheer scale of unexpressed emotions. Hearing thus becomes a personal, melancholic journey through lost connections and unspoken words, revealing the vulnerability buried deep within human secrets.
Lê Bảo
Born in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990, Lê Bảo is one of the most uncompromising voices in contemporary Vietnamese independent cinema. A self-taught filmmaker, he honed his craft by watching foreign films on his computer and shooting short films with borrowed cameras. He casts non-professional actors, setting his films in locations familiar to him from his childhood. His feature directorial debut, Taste (2021), won the Special Jury Award in the Encounters section at the Berlinale, while triggering a moral controversy in his native Vietnam that irreversibly transformed the country's independent film scene.
2013 Cục than / Coal (krótki metraż)
2019 Unconsoled (krótki metraż)
2021 Smak / Vị / Taste
2026 Odsłuch / Thính Giác / Hearing
Festival guests
Lê Bảo
film director


