Ngọc Duy Lê
Directing
Biography
Born in Da Nang, Lê Ngọc Duy is a filmmaker exploring the politics of memory, history, queer expression, and Central Vietnamese heritage. Using narrative, essay film, reenactment, and archival materials from his family and hometown, his recent works interrogate the influence of official narratives in shaping collective memory and the dominant influence of larger systems on the construction of history. Duy’s first short, "The House That Stays," has screened at Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, ZINEBI, Kaohsiung, Uppsala, and Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, among others. In 2024, he received a production grant from the 5th CJ Short Filmmaking Project in Vietnam. As a member of A Sông Art Collective, Duy organizes and co-curates Cinema of the Peasants (Cinema CNN), a grassroots project promoting local independent cinema.
Known For
A high school student ignores his family's financial struggles and falls in love with a girl who rents a room in their house. Overwhelmed by shyness, he can only admire her secretly through his dreams. In a rare moment of courage, he enters her room, only to discover that the issues within his family are far more complex than he had ever imagined. This revelation changes the way he sees his family forever.
The Rushing Waves
On Da Nang's peninsula, where echoes of war linger, a gay tourist couple searches for a forgotten Vietnamese soldier's grave, shadowed by a mysterious skate crew carving their own paths.
Before the Sea Forgets
Echoed in a memory-laden house are daily conversations between a mother and her two sons, all seemingly asleep. This autobiographical short, in a hybrid form, chronicles a personal memory from director Le Ngoc Duy's adolescence, using set design and reenactment to reconstruct his childhood home and featuring his mother’s voice as part of the cast.