Tiếng ViệtWithin the framework of the French Institute’s Villa Saigon artist residency program in Ho Chi Minh City, two artists Anne-Sophie Liban and Matthias Fortune will bring to the audience a documentary titled “Women and Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao ”.
The project “Women and Vovinam Viet Vo Dao” is tells the story of women through the process of practicing martial arts. According to the two artists who made the film, it all started in 2020 when the artists met Trinh, a Vovinam martial arts enthusiast, on the train from Hue to Da Nang. “Originally from Saigon, she shared with us the importance of practicing martial arts in life and her desire to open a school teaching this martial art. We were very impressed by her determination, this meeting inspired us to come up with the idea of telling the story of people learning martial arts,” the artists said.
In 2024, the artists met Danièle Thieu Thi Tan, Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao martial arts master, historian and former prisoner at the Poulo Condor reeducation camp (Con Son island, part of Con Dao) during the war. In addition to the extraordinary testimonies of martial arts master Danièle Thieu Thi Tan, the make film’s artists also met other martial artists, including an Olympic champion, a stuntwoman and a young martial artist. “We have noted the precious stories of these women. They represent many generations with different social situations. We want to explore the possibilities that martial arts have to offer, while also paying tribute to women whose careers are inspiring. We will recreate this project as a short documentary. After our stay at Villa Saigon, we hope to further develop this project by collecting more stories of martial artists from different martial arts in other Asian countries, before returning to Vietnam in next season to perform the stage version of the project, combining documentary, theater and martial arts,” the artists shared.
The documentary film Women and Vovinam – Viet Vo Dao was screened at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, April 25, 2024 at IDECAF (31 Thai Van Lung, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) and audiences were free to enter the theater. In addition to enjoying this documentary, the audience also listen to the shares of the characters in the film as well as discuss with two artists Anne-Sophie Liban and Matthias Fortune.
(Source: nguoidothi.net.vn)