First started in 2003, the Vietnamese International Film Festival (also known as ViFF) is a biennial film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 organized by the non-profits Vietnamese-American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) and UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

s VietNamese Language and Culture (VNLC). ViFF takes place at the University of California, Irvine

University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...

, the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

, and other locations in and near the Little Saigon

Little Saigon

Little Saigon is a name given to any of several overseas Vietnamese immigrant and descendant communities outside Vietnam, usually in the United States...

 area of Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Part film festival and part community-service event, to date ViFF is the only film festival reserved for filmmakers of Vietnamese heritage in the world outside of Vietnam. ViFF 2003 and ViFF 2005 showcased 45 and 38 films (both shorts and features), respectively, directed/produced by filmmakers of Vietnamese descent from the U.S., France, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Vietnam. As a result, many films by Vietnamese-heritage filmmakers, both new and previously released, have gathered here. Films by Academy Award

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nominated director Tran Anh Hung

Tran Anh Hung

Trần Anh Hùng is a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry.He was born in Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam, and emigrated to France when he was 12 following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....

 have been shown at ViFF. Notable premieres at ViFF include the world premiere of Victor Vu's First Morning (Buoi Sang Dau Nam), The Rebel

The Rebel (2007 Vietnamese film)

The Rebel is a 2007 Vietnamese martial arts film directed by Charlie Nguyen and starring Johnny Tri Nguyen and Dustin Nguyen. It premiered on April 12, 2007 at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in Irvine, California...

, directed by Charlie Nguyen

Charlie Nguyen

Truc "Charlie" Nguyen is a Vietnamese American film producer, director, screenwriter and martial arts action director.Born in Saigon, Charlie Nguyen immigrated to Orange County, California in 1982 with his family, including his brother Johnny Tri Nguyen. Charlie fell in love with martial arts...

, and the North American premiere of Pham Nhue Giang's Deserted Valley (Thung Lung Hoang Vang).

VIFF 2007

In 2007, the eight-day festival took place from April 12 to April 15 and from April 19, to April 22. If featured record number of films: a total of 51, including 13 features submitted by filmmakers of Vietnamese descent from around the world. The festival opened with the world premiere of the martial arts

Martial arts film

Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

, The Rebel

The Rebel (2007 Vietnamese film)

The Rebel is a 2007 Vietnamese martial arts film directed by Charlie Nguyen and starring Johnny Tri Nguyen and Dustin Nguyen. It premiered on April 12, 2007 at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in Irvine, California...

, directed by Charlie Nguyen

Charlie Nguyen

Truc "Charlie" Nguyen is a Vietnamese American film producer, director, screenwriter and martial arts action director.Born in Saigon, Charlie Nguyen immigrated to Orange County, California in 1982 with his family, including his brother Johnny Tri Nguyen. Charlie fell in love with martial arts...

 and closed with the feature debut, Dust of Life

Dust of Life

Poussières de vie is a 1995 French drama film directed by Rachid Bouchareb. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as an Algerian submission.-Cast:* Daniel Guyant as Son* Gilles Chitlaphone as Bob...

, directed by Le Van Kiet. The Spotlight Program on April 14 showcased screenwriter Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc, whose work is featured in Living in Fear

Living in Fear

Living in Fear is the second album from the supergroup The Power Station, released in 1996. The band had the same lineup as for their previous album in 1985. However, John Taylor was going through a divorce at the time, as well as entering drug rehab, and pulled out before the album was recorded....

, directed by Bui Thac Chuyen and Journey From the Fall

Journey from the Fall

Journey from the Fall is a 2006 independent film by writer/director/editor Ham Tran, about the Vietnamese reeducation camp and boat people experience following the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. This drama was released on March 23, 2007, by ImaginAsian to sold-out screenings...

, a film by Ham Tran

Ham Tran

Ham Tran is a Vietnamese American film writer/editor/director, of Hoa ancestry. He earned an MFA in film directing from the UCLA Film School and is most famous for his thesis film "The Anniversary", which was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...

.

External links

• Official site
• VIFF 2007 Trailer
• http://www.vietfilmfest.com/2009/ VIFF 2009