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Một Khu Đất Tốt I Blessed Land Watch Blessed Land on Criterion Channel Short Fiction Film, 19 min, 2019 Logline: In the dune landscape of a cemetery, or is it golf course? Past and present converge in the search for a grave. Berlinale 69th: “An old cemetery in the middle of a dune landscape: mother and son wander between graves in search of the resting place of the deceased father. Looking down from the opposing dune, a man watches them through binoculars. The dunes are now part of a golf course overlooking the city. The cemetery was sold, the old graves were excavated. The movements of the big fish in the pond are reminiscent of the eels in Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum. The man plays golf, and his young girlfriend thinks about plastic surgery. A re-zoning of towns and places in the course of society’s commercialisation. In elegant, carefully framed shots, Phạm Ngọc Lân links the future and the present on equal terms. This narrative approach is enlightened by a different cultural understanding of life and death in the act of ‘being’. We do not remember, we are in our imagination.” Director and Writer: Phạm Ngọc Lân Extract of minutes of Blessed Land’s Audioscape: Selected Screenings and Awards: Interview in Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, in English and in French. Review in Format Court. Jury’s Statement (48th Festival du Nouveau Cinema): “This year, several films from the international competition have opened our eyes to local realities whose importance radiate beyond borders. The strength of the subjects treated by the filmmakers is undeniable, and their willingness to question the status quo in certain national contexts is courageous. This being said, there is a film that particularly touched us for being in perfect balance between the strength of it’s subject and the director’s cinematic approach. We loved the director’s use of natural landscapes to explore inner worlds of the characters but also larger themes about society. The film contrasts tradition and modernity in a subtle but powerful way, capturing how sacred Vietnamese traditions are being slowly erased in favor of Western materialism. I am pleased to present the prize of the international competition to Một Khu Đất Tốt (Blessed Land) by Phạm Ngọc Lân.” Jury’s Statement (38th Uppsala International Short Film Festival): “Striking, both formally and aesthetically, and exhibiting a bold spirit of innovation, the jury were impressed by the shifting atmospheres and tonal registers the work constantly evokes. With imagery haunted by the dense layers of history and presence imbued in the landscape, and a subtle interrogation of points of tension between class, economics, progress and spirituality, this a rewarding, multi- faceted viewing experience. The jury are delighted to award the Uppsala Grand Prix to Phạm Ngọc Lân’s Blessed Land.” Jury’s Statement (VIS 2019): “The award goes to an original and wildly imaginative film that the jury found to be playful yet profound. It explores complex themes of history, place and memory in ways that are continually surprising, portraying characters who are rooted in a specific world yet somehow escape the usual rules of time and space. The award goes to the Vietnamese film Một Khu Đất Tốt (Blessed Land) by Phạm Ngọc Lân.” Jury’s Statement (SeaShorts Film Festival 2019): “Blessed Land puts poetry in motion, beautiful and mysterious as it builds its space with a delicate attention to sound and picture.” Jury’s Statement (Kaohsiung Film Festival 2019): “The sound, image and editing are all in professional level. The image and the script is full of taste and highly artistic. The director uses precise camera design to express a sensitive concept of space and a deep reflection to the Vietnamese society.” Jury’s Statement (Sharjah Film Platform 2019, Sharjah Art Foundation): “The Jury Prize was awarded to Blessed Land by Phạm Ngọc Lân for a film with a lyrical rumination on loss and progress.” |  |  |  |