Using the metaphor of nanitic—a descriptor of the first worker ants produced by the queen using only the reserved nutrition of her body—this story follows a day in the life of two young girls Mai and Trang, their Aunt Útty, and Trang’s ailing grandmother.
IMDbPro Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award, TIFF 2022
Supported by
Community Broadcast Partner
Community Partner
Kylie Le, Ly Pham, Van Pham, Dam Nguyen, Eve Sevigny, Fred Nguyen, An Nguyen
Canada
2022
In Vietnamese and English with English subtitles
Featured in:
VIFF Short Forum: Program 1
What kind of alchemy occurs to transform hardship into fortune? Here, the extraordinary burn brightly.
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Credits
Executive Producer
Karine Bélanger, Hany Ouichou
Producer
Carol Nguyen, Marie Lytwynuk
Screenwriter
Carol Nguyen
Cinematography
Alexandre Nour-Desjardins
Editor
Carol Nguyen
Original Music
Arie Van de Ven
Art Director
Estelle Tang
Director
Carol Nguyen
Carol Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Canadian filmmaker based in Montreal. Her films often explore the subjects of cultural identity, family, and memory. Her last film, No Crying at the Dinner Table (2019), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and had its international premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), where she was additionally invited as the opening night speaker. In 2020, No Crying at the Dinner Table also received the Jury Prize for Short Documentary at SXSW. Nguyen is a 2018 Sundance Ignite fellow, Adobe Creativity Scholar, and a TIFF Share Her Journey ambassador.