by rontland
Northwest Asia Weekly
SEATTLE – Vietnamese sci-fi children’s film “Maika: Cô bé đến từ hành tinh khác (Maika: The Girl from another Galaxy)” returns to the screen at the Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) C-ID Summer this month at Hing Hay Park film series.
The C-ID Summer Film Series is a free event, community screenings of independent films and live performances for multigenerational and multicultural communities. The series will air every Saturday until August 27, with a final screening of director Ham Tran’s film.
The Shine Global Children’s Resilience Film Award-nominated film chronicles Hong, a young bereaved boy who lost his mother at a young age but befriends a purple-haired alien named Micah.
Based on the Czechoslovak children’s TV show Spadla z oblako (She Fell from Clouds), which ran from 1978 to 1983, the film’s whimsical plot and visuals allude to Steven Spielberg’s 1982 sci-fi film “ET the Extra – Land. “
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment. Bao Tran, a fellow Vietnamese-American filmmaker whose most recent martial arts comedy film “Paper Tiger,” was released by the same label, described Ham as “one of our pioneers, if you will, of Vietnamese-American cinema. “
Bao highlighted the “groundbreaking” prominence of Ham’s work by discussing his 2006 historical drama “Vượt sóng (Autumn’s Journey)”. The film chronicles the horrors faced by prisoners in re-education camps and Vietnamese boat people after Saigon was taken over by the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975, marking the end of the Vietnam War.
“[The film] Put the Vietnamese-American community on the map, and he continues to do so to this day. As a friend and filmmaker, I really admire him. “
With the exception of “Bố già (Dad, I’m sorry)” in 2021, few Vietnamese-language films are released in the United States. Notably, like its predecessor, “Maika” has strong support from the local Vietnamese-American community. Many Seattle residents have come together to rent out the theater and offer free tickets to the public through the online RSVP.
Kenneth Nguyen is responsible for coordinating the screening of films in major markets such as AMC and theater chains, working with Ham and a renowned Vietnamese-American team with expertise in film festival programming under film production, entertainment law, business and media company , Oriental Pictures. Nguyen affirmed that his main creative goal was to “beautify the name and work of all the trials and endeavors our people have gone through”.
In addition to bringing EAST FILMS’ work to more screens, Nguyen is a prolific podcaster who has interviewed many prominent Vietnamese public figures, including filmmakers, actors, academics, writers, athletes, politicians, Community leader and former U.S. ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on his show “The Vietnamese in Kenneth Nguyen.”
Nguyen talked about the importance of supporting Vietnamese filmmakers and the need to “create more magnification so we can walk into airports in Yugoslavia, Paris, New York, and everyone will see our passports — you’re Vietnamese. We held our heads up and said, “Yeah, we’re an amazing bunch. “We are not refugees, we are not zipper heads, we are not Guk, we are Vietnamese, we have arrived.”
Producer Jenni Trang Le and the rest of the crew were unsure if their film was a Sundance film, and never thought to submit “Maika” anywhere. A veteran producer of 13 feature films, he’s been working with Ham since they all attended UCLA, continuing to elevate Vietnamese cinema to new heights. In addition to major Vietnamese blockbuster and Oscar winner Spike Lee, she has also worked on a fair number of independent films, and her recent production work has proven to be a particular passion project.
“In all movies, [it is] Probably my favorite because it’s so challenging…we love kids so much. We are very proud of how it came together in the end. The film premiered at the KIDS section of the Sundance Film Festival as the first purely Vietnamese-produced feature film to be screened in 25 cities and at film festivals in Vietnam and around the world.
What makes this movie unique is that it is available in Vietnamese and English.
“English dubbed, Ham directed and acted. 90% of the voice actors are Vietnamese-Americans… It’s very important for us to have representation in that area as well.”
Although the film’s theatrical release has ended, the next stage in bringing the film to a wider audience is to make it available on streaming platforms in two languages. For now, the best way to support the film is to go to a festival like the SAAFF.
Festival co-director Ellison Shieh said: “Maika will actually be the first Vietnamese-language feature film we share. [the] Summer collection, which is really exciting. “
Shieh noted that the “imaginative” and “heartwarming” film “could be a growing up movie for many kids in the neighborhood.”
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