STEP 1: To watch this screening, click the Register button above to "Pre-order" the film.
STEP 2: The first time you register for a screening with Viet Film Fest on EVENTIVE, you will be asked to create an account. Accounts are free, and you will be asked to provide your first and last name, your email, and to create a password. If you’ve previously attended a film on EVENTIVE, you may not need to log in – the system will remember you when you click “Register”.
STEP 3: After logging in, continue to click "Pre-order" until you receive a message that you have successfully "pre-ordered" the movie.
STEP 4: Once you have pre-ordered (registered) successfully, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions and a link to access the film. You will also get reminder emails on the day of the screening, at noon and then 10 minutes before the movie starts. The unlock window starts at the time the screening becomes available and you will have 7 days to unlock the screening. Once unlocked, you will have 3 days to watch this film before it expires.
Ngo Do Duc's short film, Trading Happiness, is his graduation film from the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany. The film portrays a proposed arranged marriage in rural Vietnam. The story opens with Nghi (Quỳnh Như), a Vietnamese mother, worried about daughter Phuong's (Trần Thiện Tứ) marriage to a Chinese businessman. This arranged marriage has been organized by a matchmaker and will, if it goes through, relieve the family’s debts. However, Phuong's sudden disappearance at her wedding throws all of these plans into chaos. Will Nghi choose debt relief or her daughter's true happiness? Does Phuong have the power to control her destiny?
The narrative of Trading Happiness is a direct result of the legacy of China's one-child policy. That nation’s artificial restriction of births and its culture’s historical favoring of boys over girls has resulted in a severe gender imbalance, which has fueled an informal economy of arranged marriages between Chinese husbands and non-Chinese brides. The film's gloomy chiaroscuro fosters a murky atmosphere that reflects the ethical quandary that daughter and mother have to confront, as well as symbolizing the uncertain futures of both – a future dependent on the wills of men. For Trading Happiness, Ngo Ngoc Duc and his crew won various awards at German film festivals including Filmfest Dresden's Golden Rider of the Youth Jury Award and Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis's Audience Award (Saarbrücken).
- Year2020
- Runtime25 minutes
- LanguageVietnamese
- CountryVietnam, Germany
- DirectorDuc Ngo Ngoc
- ScreenwriterFlorina-Alice Biro
- ProducerPia To
- CastNhu Quynh, Thiem Tu Tran
- CinematographerMeret Madorin
- EditorLaura Espinel, Katja Nguyen Thanh
- ComposerFraziska May, Johann Niegl
STEP 1: To watch this screening, click the Register button above to "Pre-order" the film.
STEP 2: The first time you register for a screening with Viet Film Fest on EVENTIVE, you will be asked to create an account. Accounts are free, and you will be asked to provide your first and last name, your email, and to create a password. If you’ve previously attended a film on EVENTIVE, you may not need to log in – the system will remember you when you click “Register”.
STEP 3: After logging in, continue to click "Pre-order" until you receive a message that you have successfully "pre-ordered" the movie.
STEP 4: Once you have pre-ordered (registered) successfully, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions and a link to access the film. You will also get reminder emails on the day of the screening, at noon and then 10 minutes before the movie starts. The unlock window starts at the time the screening becomes available and you will have 7 days to unlock the screening. Once unlocked, you will have 3 days to watch this film before it expires.
Ngo Do Duc's short film, Trading Happiness, is his graduation film from the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany. The film portrays a proposed arranged marriage in rural Vietnam. The story opens with Nghi (Quỳnh Như), a Vietnamese mother, worried about daughter Phuong's (Trần Thiện Tứ) marriage to a Chinese businessman. This arranged marriage has been organized by a matchmaker and will, if it goes through, relieve the family’s debts. However, Phuong's sudden disappearance at her wedding throws all of these plans into chaos. Will Nghi choose debt relief or her daughter's true happiness? Does Phuong have the power to control her destiny?
The narrative of Trading Happiness is a direct result of the legacy of China's one-child policy. That nation’s artificial restriction of births and its culture’s historical favoring of boys over girls has resulted in a severe gender imbalance, which has fueled an informal economy of arranged marriages between Chinese husbands and non-Chinese brides. The film's gloomy chiaroscuro fosters a murky atmosphere that reflects the ethical quandary that daughter and mother have to confront, as well as symbolizing the uncertain futures of both – a future dependent on the wills of men. For Trading Happiness, Ngo Ngoc Duc and his crew won various awards at German film festivals including Filmfest Dresden's Golden Rider of the Youth Jury Award and Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis's Audience Award (Saarbrücken).
- Year2020
- Runtime25 minutes
- LanguageVietnamese
- CountryVietnam, Germany
- DirectorDuc Ngo Ngoc
- ScreenwriterFlorina-Alice Biro
- ProducerPia To
- CastNhu Quynh, Thiem Tu Tran
- CinematographerMeret Madorin
- EditorLaura Espinel, Katja Nguyen Thanh
- ComposerFraziska May, Johann Niegl
