NUOC
Quyên Nguyễn-Lê | 2015 | United States | 5’ | Fiction
Nước is an experimental narrative short film about a genderqueer Vietnamese American teen who attempts to piece together and understand their mother's experience as a Vietnam War refugee. The journey pulls us into a fantastical series of iconic historical photographs and images, ultimately highlighting the complexity of fully understanding others' experiences — and opens up possibilities for building relationships based on presence and co-existence. In loving memory of My Le Nghiem.
Quyên Nguyen-Le is a queer vietnamese filmmaker born to refugee parents in the place where Chumash and Tongva lands meet (San Fernando Valley, Los Ángeles). Quyên's work focuses on the ways histories are deeply felt in the quotidian everyday. Their short films Nước (2016) and Hoài (2018) have screened in film festivals, art galleries, libraries, and community spaces worldwide. The Morning Passing on El Cajón Boulevard (2019) opened the 20th San Diego Asian Film Festival and has screened in the 5th edition of Ici Vietnam Festival Cinema in 2022. Quyên was an Associate Producer for Julie Ha and Eugene Yi's Free Chol Soo Lee (Sundance & Busan 2022) and Sing J. Lee's The Accidental Getaway Driver (Sundance 2023). Along with Tad Nakamura, Quyên is currently directing a feature length documentary about the artistic life of performer and activist Nobuko Miyamoto.