The director of the upcoming film ‘Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere‘ talks about depicting social issues in film, women’s perspectives and how being indecisive is not the same as being weak.
We met Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp on a bleak winter afternoon as 2014 was drawing to an end. Điệp welcomed us – wearing pajamas, her hair let loose and without makeup – and we settled at a sidewalk café nearby. Điệp might be an award-winning director but she was disarmingly honest and open, sharing intimacies and stories about her life. “Besides making a film, I’m no different from any other Vietnamese mum with milk and nappies.” She points out an old weather-beaten building opposite. “My house is on the second floor, under reparation at the moment. When the economy stumbled, I fell from owning a house to renting it – all because of my film! My parents think the situation I’m in is tragic, that I’m finished. But up to this point I feel losing a house was no big deal. It is fine to live anywhere, so long as my husband, and [my sons] my Red Pea and Green Pea* are beside me…”
Interview by Ha Dao ● Images by Huong
&: Your first short film, ‘The 5th Season’, is about the life of an unfortunate woman. It seems that women’s lives and the challenges they face is something that has always interested you. Have your views changed at all since making that film?
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp: I made ‘The 5th Season’ ten years ago, while I was in my third year of college. I don’t exactly know why I was convinced that marriage is so limiting for women – I imagined it like a cramped room. There might be windows in the room but the windows are covered with bars. I think sadness is part of women’s nature. They are born to be lonely, to suffer, to live a life for others.
A decade has gone by and now I am married. And despite not having anything to complain about in my married life, nor having to witness much injustice around me I still can’t shake this idea.
I’m not trying to convincing people with my films, but I do want to share this view.
&: How does your husband’s respond to such a negative view?
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp: He just lets me be (laugh). My chubby hubby Cường is someone the opposite of me, a born optimist. Frankly I could hardly survive without such a man by my side.
Take this example. I needed VND500 million to produce ‘Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere’. I spent endless nights figuring out a way to get the money. My husband had a different take on it. “That is not a big deal – 500 mil can be a huge problem if you’re on your own, but I can ask my friends for help. 1 million each and with 500 friends you’re good to go!”
&: ‘Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere’ touched on many social issues – teenage pregnancy, prostitution, transgender issues and poverty. Why not focus on just one aspect?
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp: Because that’s how our society is. Such things exist and I don’t intend to cast them out. I simply want to tell the audience that Huyền studied in such a school, lived in such home and got into such and such a situation. It is the space where she is ‘flapping’. I am filmmaker, not someone who lightens or darkens life.
&: There are scenes where Huyền is really indecisive, without the ability to make any decisions about her own life. Why did you make the main female character like this?
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp: Huyền is not supposed to be representative of the young generation, she’s just an individual character with her own way of doing things.
But I do find Vietnamese girls unique in their reactions to life’s adversity – there’s no protesting or demanding change like Western girls who are taught about democracy and equality at a very young age. We Viet women accept things the way they are and solve them independently. Huyền is like that. We might see her as inert, always saying “it’s ok to let things be…” but her actions prove otherwise.
In the movie, Tùng got into fights, Linh was miserable, and Hoàng walked away. In the end, there was only Huyền to ‘flap in the middle of nowhere’. In a sense, I think Huyền is the strongest character, she perseveres, she has staying power.
&: Why did you choose film as the way to tell your stories?
Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp: I chose filmmaking at first just because it was new to me, but as challenges came up I became more drawn to it. I think that to make art is to create something challenging.
You can live the life you dream by making a film. You have the chance to create, to live and grow with various lives. If you lead a different life which is lively and exciting, you can become addicted to it and there’s no reason to quit.
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Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp is currently focusing on supporting young independent filmmakers at her own, recently founded studio and is finalising her second film script ‘The saddest Story on Earth’.
‘Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere’ premieres on 21st January 2015 at CGV Arthouse, Ho Guom Plaza Hanoi; on 22nd January in Saigon and from 23rd will be screened at all CGV cinemas nationwide. Visit https://www.facebook.com/dapcanhgiuakhongtrung for further information.
