Ninh has separated from his wife and lives alone with his mother. He occasionally sees his wife and children, but finding a way to express his feelings and mend their relationship is not easy. Ninh installs noise meters. When the noise exceeds a certain level, a light comes on. At the edge of the village is a restaurant that serves as a gathering place and an escape for the local residents. At night, it is awash with bursts of noise and blue light. Hearing is the second feature by Lê Bảo, whose debut feature Taste won the Special Jury Award in the Encounters section at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival. Following a man whose job is to measure sound, the film gazes at the silence and distance that accumulate between those who love one another. As a film that puts ‘hearing’ front and center, its sound design is superb; equally striking is its visual experience, with precise, measured compositions and rich, vivid colors that make each frame feel like a painting.
Born in Saigon in 1990, Lê Bảo's interest in cinema began when he was a little boy looking through the small window of his house that sits by a river in Saigon. In his youth, he watched foreign films on his computer and became a self-trained filmmaker who made his first short film with a borrowed camera. Hearing is his ode to the people and places he loves.
From Tokyo International Film Festival 2026, No. 39
