Spend the evening with us as part of Vietnam Week, with afterhours programs that include a screening of Three Seasons with director Tony Bui.
Accessibility: The public elevator in the West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) is out of service, so your route to the event location may take a few more minutes than usual. Use the accessible entrance at the corner of Independence Avenue and 12th Street SW, and follow the directions when you arrive. Get more accessibility details.
Program Details:
Food for purchase from Roll Play and cash bar
West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Courtyard
5:30–7:15 p.m.Food for purchase from PhoWheels Food Truck
West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Plaza
5:30-7:15 p.m. DJ Leon spins jazz and Vietnamese classics
West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Courtyard
5:30–7:15 p.m. Color a woodblock print of the Tale of Kieu or decorate a paper fan
West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), North Corridor
5:30–8:30 p.m. Take pictures with models wearing 19th-century Nguyễn Dynasty royal robes and accessories
All areas
5:30–8:30 p.m. Screening of Three Seasons followed by discussion with director Tony Bui
Meyer Auditorium
7:30 p.m. Registering does not guarantee you a seat for the film. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Register in advance to make sure you get the best experience. About the film:
Presented in 4K, Tony Bui’s debut feature was the first American film made in Vietnam after the United States embargo was lifted.
The film's characters struggle to find themselves in a rapidly changing society. A cyclo driver (Đơn Dương) forms a relationship with a sex worker (Zoe Bui) whom he ferries to her clients. An American veteran (Harvey Keitel) searches for the daughter he fathered during the Vietnam War, and a street kid (Nguyễn Hữu Được) befriends him. A flower vendor (Ngọc Hiệp) finds solace in the beauty of lotus blossoms.
Three Seasons blends the beauty of traditional Vietnamese architecture and landscape with the relentless modernization then sweeping through Saigon. Like no other, this film captures a unique, pivotal, and now long-lost moment in modern Vietnamese history. Following the screening, Tony Bui will share insights from his longstanding film career, especially into the role of artists and filmmakers in redefining narratives about Vietnam, its history, and its people. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Sylvia Chong, associate professor of American Studies and English at the University of Virginia and author of The Oriental Obscene: Violence and Racial Fantasies in the Vietnam Era.
(Dir.: Tony Bui, Vietnam/United States, 1999, 109 min., DCP, English and Vietnamese with English subtitles)
Image Courtesy of NBC Universal |