Amid the rapid technological, sociocultural changes of our present, these films tackle perennial problems framed through contemporary settings, reminding us of the timelessness of these universal issues.

Starting with Mother’s Spring (Mùa xuân của mẹ), we follow a transmasculine child as their mom wants them to wear a feminine áo dài dress, speaking to age-old themes of acceptance and understanding. Next follows Happy Pizza, following two friends as they hallucinate on drugs, sparking verbal and literal fighting as their differing economic backgrounds clash. The following film Happy Thoughts traces a high school speech and debate champion as he enters his final competition. However, when an unexpected tragedy strikes, his Gen Z drive and spirit is tested by the weight of grief and expectation. The Stand parallels this Gen Z hustle as a young immigrant girl and her little brother struggle to make enough money to give their mom a break. 

Shifting the tone, Dream of Emptiness follows a thirteen-year-old grandson as he searches for his grandmother following her unexplained disappearance – and, in his search, the film suggests the ways of rural Vietnam receding to time. Finally, Unperforming ends this set with similar notions of digitizing relationships and online perception and persona, following a man as he struggles with an obsession to measure up as he chases the attention of his crush. 

These films take themes that have been around since the beginning of time and use contemporary settings to give fresh nuance to these topics and how they manifest in this modern age. 

By Tai Nguyen