Screening "WHARF OF WIDOWS": A GAZE ON VIETNAMESE FEMINIST

Location: RHB Cinema, Goldsmiths, University of London
Time: 19th June 2013, 17:00 − 18:30 and discussion afterwards

• Eventhough being clearly stated in the title, the feminist concept of "WHARF OF WIDOWS" seems to be long missed in the field of culture critique. Since its first release in 2001, the movie has been internationally introduced with a focus on the image of veterans. This June, along with Goldsmiths postgraduate feminist forum, Heidi Hoefinger's book launch on Cambodian professional girlfriedn and the Annual Gender Event (1), we would like to put up the movie as a primary source for Vietnamese feminisms.
   
• In brief, “Wharf of Widows” tells a story of typical Vietnamese suburban females during the war when almost all male adults have to depart for severe frontiers. They are either married or virgin, in love or never have such emotions, … Yet these women seemingly share a common “natural” desire: love, sexuality and motherhood. Remarkably, this story has been discovered to remain existed in contemporary Vietnam⁠ (2) and surprisingly among Vietnamese female migrants in the West (3), which raises a few pragmatic questions in terms of Westernization in Southeast Asia, local feminisms in a global context, as well as the woman in relation to labor force, immigration and sociality.

• The screening is expected after a short introduction to Vietnamese context and followed by an open discussion on related topics. We will be joined by a few Vietnamese and hopefully Prof. Angela McRobbie and Prof. Vikki Bell to whom this event is indebted.

THE EVENT IS FREE! PLEASE BOOK TICKET IN ADVANCE AS LIMITED SEATS ARE AVAILABLE

For any further information, please contact: My Bui, so201mb@gold.ac.uk

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THE MOVIE: "WHARF OF WIDOWS"

Director: Lưu Trọng Ninh (Ninh Trong Luu)

Castings: Minh Châu, Lưu Trọng Ninh, Thuý Hà, Như Quỳnh

Screenplay: based on the novel of Duong Huong, also available in French, Italian and other languages

Synopsis (by the movie’s distributor): Winner of several international film festivals, this film tells the story of Van, a veteran of the war against the French colonial regime (1946-54), who returns to his hometown in North Vietnam. His village may nominally be at peace, but it is troubled by social unrest. Land reform and expropriations are being carried out. The older women have lost their husbands in the war and the young ones can't find any. Van becomes interested in two women, Nhan, a war widow, and Hon, a former landowner in whose house he is billeted while she is confined to the kitchen. When the Vietnam War breaks out in full force, the young men of the village are quickly drafted. Van and Nhan become friendly, a friendship that only exacerbates the loneliness of the other women. The general rejection of their relationship culminates in a vociferous night-time protest in the village.

Awards: Netpac 2001 Special Mention

FOR A GLANCE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMwPBRgE3NQ 

OTHER REFERNENCES:

• Yale University: http://www.yale.edu/seas/VietnamFilmSeries.html
• NETPAC: http://zomebo.com/NETPAC

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Notes 

1. https://www.facebook.com/events/173558382804040/ 
2. New York Times (2013), In Vietnam some chose to be single mothers, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/world/asia/in-vietnam-some-chose-to-be-single-mothers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
3. Vietnamese “Wharf of widows” in Berlin, available athttp://nguoiviet.de/nv/modules.php?name=News&op=viewst&sid=24518