Vietnamese cinema is riding high. Its films are earning recognition abroad and the box office keeps setting new records. But what does any of that mean to Yen, who hasn’t made a single film in ten years? A mother with dementia, a son treated like a problem child, a sister buried in debt and a brother unable to marry only deepen her financial troubles. Can she keep making films? About ten years after her sensational debut Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere, director Nguyễn Hoang điệp returns with her new film 1982. This metacinematic film lays bare her unfiltered love for cinema itself. In the film, what Yen searches for is not just her missing mother but her own self, worn down after ten years of struggle. The point where life and film slide into each other will linger with audiences who have each sought their own balance in life.
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp is a Vietnamese filmmaker and producer. Her feature directorial debut, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere (2014), which she wrote, directed, and produced, won the FEDEORA Award for Best Film in the International Critics′ Week at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the Bratislava International Film Festival. In addition to directing, she co-produced Bi, Don′t Be Afraid! (2010) and produced Rom (2019), which won the New Currents Award at the Busan International Film Festival.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
