If Heaven Awaits (2023)
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If Heaven Awaits (Nếu Có Thiên Đường)
Written, directed and produced by Ha Dao
Featuring Jin Jin and Ngoc Nau
Filmed and edited by Linh DN
Lighting and camera assist by Thao Hoang
Experimental / Music video, 6:21
Currently in post-production
If Heaven Awaits recounts the story of Dung Hà, a notorious Vietnamese mafia who was shot point-blank by her rival at age 36 in the year 2000. Born in the coastal city of Hải Phòng, she used to monopolize gambling sites, adopt a masculine appearance and openly date women. Among her affairs, it was rumored that Phượng was Dung Hà's one true love.
A rendezvous between the long-gone Dung Hà and Phượng takes place as the Vietnamese hit pop ballad Đêm Nay Anh Mơ Về Em plays in the background. Adopting the aesthetic of music videos from the Y2K era, this work centers lesbian desires and butch gender expressions against the backdrop of heteronormative pop culture. It aims to give a dedicated space and possible redemption for an outcast fallen from grace, though much overdue, though only in a short-lived fantasy.
Written, directed and produced by Ha Dao
Featuring Jin Jin and Ngoc Nau
Filmed and edited by Linh DN
Lighting and camera assist by Thao Hoang
Experimental / Music video, 6:21
Currently in post-production
If Heaven Awaits recounts the story of Dung Hà, a notorious Vietnamese mafia who was shot point-blank by her rival at age 36 in the year 2000. Born in the coastal city of Hải Phòng, she used to monopolize gambling sites, adopt a masculine appearance and openly date women. Among her affairs, it was rumored that Phượng was Dung Hà's one true love.
A rendezvous between the long-gone Dung Hà and Phượng takes place as the Vietnamese hit pop ballad Đêm Nay Anh Mơ Về Em plays in the background. Adopting the aesthetic of music videos from the Y2K era, this work centers lesbian desires and butch gender expressions against the backdrop of heteronormative pop culture. It aims to give a dedicated space and possible redemption for an outcast fallen from grace, though much overdue, though only in a short-lived fantasy.