Rohingyas meet Vietnamese Boat People in Berlin, winners of the Busan APM project of the "Taste" team "The sea is calm tonight"

Vietnamese writer-director Le Bao and Singaporean and Toronto producer Lai Weijie, who successfully collaborated on "Taste" (2021), come together for the Busan Asian Project Market title "The Sea is Calm Tonight".

"Taste", Le's feature debut, played at considerable festivals and won awards. prizes in Berlin, Singapore and Taipei and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

In "The sea is calm tonight", Vietnamese boat people from 40 years ago have a miraculous encounter with Rohingya refugees of the present in their parallel maritime journeys to find peace.

"When my mother was pregnant with me, my parents lived on a houseboat in the middle of a large Whenever a strong gust of wind blew or boats crossed the river, the surface of the water would build up in waves, like the waves of the sea. said they wanted my name to be Lê Biển, which means the sea. The thought of this other life with a different identity lingers in my mind,” Le told Variety. p>

"During post-production on 'Taste', I began imagining mysterious encounters at the middle of the vast ocean, around which I would like to build the central story of the film. The film starts from "touch", one of the five human senses (after "Taste" - my first feature film).

I then thought of a meeting between the spirits of Vietnamese boat people from 40 years ago years and Rohingya refugees fleeing the gift. In both cases, generations of displaced people, communities driven by the desire to find peace and a chance to live with their loved ones. To find a house.

My approach in this film is with the firm belief that such encounters could happen in the past, now, and in the future. It is not an illusory belief, on the contrary, from inner faith. My role is to capture the sensations of these encounters,” adds Le.

Lai told Variety: "It was a natural progression from working together on “Taste.” There was real generosity with everyone involved in this film, and Bao and I trust and respect each other immensely.

"The Sea is Calm Tonight" is produced by Lai and Elizabeth Wijaya's E&W Films, which also produced "Pop Aye" (2017), winner of Sundance, Rotterdam and Zurich, by Kirsten Tan, and co-produced "Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash", winner of the Locarno Golden Leopard, by Edwin (2021).< /p>

"There are many exciting projects taking place in Southeast Asia and many filmmakers that I have great respect for . I am cautious about what I can take on and am more comfortable participating in projects where I believe I can make a genuine and meaningful contribution. I like working on projects where there is a bit of mystery in the process,” Lai says of his project onboarding process.

Lai, former lead programmer at the Singapore International Film Festival, has a full list coming up. “Mongrel” by Chiang Wei Liang, developed at the Cannes Residence, Talents Tokyo and TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab, is in pre-production. He also co-produces a few films: “Cu Li Never Cries” by Pham Ngoc Lan, is currently in production; and in pre-production are "Viet and Nam" by Truong Minh Quy, "Regrettably at Dawn" by Sivaroj Kongsakul and "The Gospel of the Beast" by Sheron Dayoc.

"Cangrejos" by Zurich Chan is in development and an animation project is under development.

"I would like to take the opportunity to understand and explore more possibilities for co-production and collaboration in Asia," Lai explains. "APM, especially this year, felt like the perfect place and time to pursue that. We were lucky to be in the selection.”