SONG LANG

Saigon, 1980s. Linh Phung is the star of an itinerant cai luong company (traditional folk opera) and is heavily indebted to a lender called Dung, Thunderbolt. Despite apparently having nothing in common, the two engage in a video game relationship and discover that they have similar minds and multiple binding points. Linh Phung knows that a well-lived life is required to develop his art and Dung yearns for art to be able to live a life worthy of being lived. The story, rooted in fatalism and fatality, is inspired by the classical narrative structure of Vietnamese opera. The film was presented at the Göteborg Film Festival 2019, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2018 and the Hawaii International Film Festival 2018, and won the Tokyo Gemstone Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018.

Born and raised in Saigon, Leon Le is a dancer, singer and actor who moved to the United States as a teenager. “Song Lang”, his first feature film, is considered a very mature work, resulting from his personal experience committed to his vocation, tying together his sensitivity as a photographer and actor.