22min | Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand | 2020
An alien arrives on Earth on a quest to find assistance to rebuild his home. Under dissociated instruction of his spaceship, he makes a stopover at a construction site in Vietnam, where the biggest temple of the world is being built. In disguise, the alien encounters a reverent worshipper, a cynical construction worker and a mysterious medium. As the group performs a spirit summoning ceremony, the alien observes these individuals exchanging their different ideas of home.
Year of production 2020 Length 22min Country Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand Shooting Format Digital Aspect Ratio1.85:1 Dialogue Vietnamese DirectorOstin Fam Producer Pham Ngoc Lan Writer Ostin Fam Cinematographer Hoang Thanh Dong Editor Pham Thi Hao Production Designer Do Duy Anh Assistant DirectorToan Nguyen Composer Anthony Dean Sound Designer Nam Nguyen Supported byMomo Film Co Cast Ngo Xuan An, Bui Bai Binh, Phan Thi Tra My, Vu Ba Duy, Pham Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Truong Trong Tan Festival selections Busan International Film Festival 2020, South Korea - World Premiere Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival 2020, Czech Republic Singapore International Film Festival 2020 Festival du Court Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand 2021, France New Directors/New Films 2021, USA International Short Film Week Regensburg 2021, Germany Film Festival della Lessinia 2021, Italy SeaShorts Film Festival 2021, Malaysia - Best Movie Award DC Shorts International Film Festival 2021, USA Split Film Festival - International Festival of New Film 2021, Croatia Tingin: Southeast Asian Film Festival 2021, Philippines Imagine Science Film Festival 2021, USA cellu l’art Short Film Festival 2021, Germany Hobnobben Film Festival 2021, USA Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival 2021, Thailand Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2021, Canada Ground Up Student Film Festival 2021, Hong Kong IFSAK Short Film Festival 2022, Turkey Cambodia International Film Festival 2022 Director's Statement After almost 6 years in the United States, I came home to layers of dust in the air. Vietnam is a big construction. My mom and brother had moved into an old apartment, 38 meters up from the ground. She got him a new name, Bình, as her fortuneteller suggested it would protect him unhurt. But it's uneasy when you and your country don’t recognize each other. People resort to different support systems including money and religion. Religious tourism becomes popular. Giant temples arise, unlike the conventional size of those we Vietnamese used to worship, cherish and confide. In the film, under the looming construction, the characters’ fears align and clash. All of them no longer find solace in themselves. The alien’s patience to follow all clues of that familiar yet foreign territory is something I didn’t have at that time in my life. Only a few struggles later that I realized it’s a new relationship.
