When Tony Bui first returned to his native Vietnam as a teenager, he had a “miserable time.” The humidity, the lack of amenities, and the foreign language were too much for the self-described “spoiled kid,” so he left early. But the moment the plane took off, he wanted to go back.
That desire eventually led Bui to write and direct his first feature, Three Seasons (1999). It was the first American film shot in post-war Vietnam, and won all three major prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. Last month, Reid Hall hosted a screening of the film with Bui, a former artist in residence at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, now an adjunct professor at Columbia’s School of the Arts graduate film program.
In this episode, Bui talks about his unexpected reaction to seeing Three Seasons for the first time in decades. He also tells about the real people who inspired its characters, filming in the middle of monsoon season, and why he was unable to direct another film for many years afterward.
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Host: Marie Doezema
Production: Marie Doezema, Tessa Overvoorde, and Anthony Valette
Editing: Theo Albaric
Music: Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne performed by Magdalena Baczewska and Sasha He
With thanks to the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Centre in Paris
The Columbia Global Paris Center is part of a network of 11 global centers of Columbia University in the City of New York, one of the world's leading academic institutions. The centers serve as knowledge hubs that aim to educate and inspire through research, dialogue, and action. They advance understanding, facilitate partnerships, and build the bridges necessary to tackle our changing world.
Columbia Global brings together the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
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