Viet Film Fest

Viet Film Fest The largest Vietnamese film festival in the diaspora! As a result, it has become a unique and important platform for filmmakers of Vietnamese descent globally.

Viet Film Fest’s mission is to support, celebrate, and project a diversity of visions and voices from filmmakers of Vietnamese descent and films by, for, and about the Vietnamese people and culture. Since 2003, Viet Film Fest (formerly known as the Vietnamese International Film Festival) has been widely known as the largest Vietnamese film festival outside of Vietnam. In the past decade, the festival has attracted thousands of national and international attendees and showcased hundreds of shorts and features that have been submitted from many corners of the world, including the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Poland, United Kingdom, Norway, Cambodia and Vietnam. Through the universal language of film, Viet Film Fest continues to celebrate the diversity of our communities by bringing together a multiplicity of perspectives and voices. Committed to expanding the horizons of Vietnamese cinema, Viet Film Fest provides a nurturing environment for its artists to engage in a broadening dialogue with an international community. Going beyond Vietnam, Viet Film Fest also serves as an important educational tool for learning about the historical and contemporary experiences of Vietnamese in the United States and other countries around the world. Awards presented at Viet Film Fest include the Grand-Jury Trống Đồng Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film, Best Cinematography, and awards for Best Actor and Best Actress. Audience members will also have a chance to vote for the Audience Choice Award for feature and short films. Viet Film Fest (VFF) | Anaheim| Santa Ana

“Don't Forget to Remember Me” is set to screen at ! 🎬A thoughtfully curated selection of short films centered around a ...
09/24/2026

“Don't Forget to Remember Me” is set to screen at ! 🎬A thoughtfully curated selection of short films centered around a shared theme, celebrating Vietnamese voices, artists, and stories.

🎟️ Tickets on sale now, available virtually & in-person — https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co/

🎬 “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” shares a deeply personal and thoughtful perspective on why we should remember to reconcile with the past, embrace the present, and look forward to the future.
The proof of a life lived in full or continuing to do so lies within the memory and act of recollection. The moments we get to sit down and reflect on ourselves can be specific and arbitrary all at once. The more one reminisces, the more they realize how these memories shaped and informed who they are, their personhood. Still, what’s in a memory? What is worth remembering? How and why should one remember? These are the questions in which this series of short films aims to answer.

⚠️This short film set contains strong language and thematic material including death, grief, and su***de. Viewer discretion is advised.

🏷️ Filmmaker Tags: Sally Tran Jocelyn 🫧 Tommy Pepper Jenny Thach Josh Carone Skyler Brigmann Will Pepper Tammy Nguyen Luu Liam Koko kathleen :D Phoebe Phuoc Nguyen

🎥 "Southeast Asian American Journeys" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026! It will be accompanied by the short film ...
09/24/2026

🎥 "Southeast Asian American Journeys" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026! It will be accompanied by the short film “Sea Song”

🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and be part of the story. https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

In the anthology documentary “Southeast Asian American Journeys”, its five parts explore the vibrant lives and livelihoods of Southeast Asian American communities across the U.S. Within these stories, participants range from the individuals who migrated to those who grew up stateside, showcasing the exchange of traditions and knowledge between generations.

“Sea Song” - The last remaining South Vietnamese naval officers reunite in California for what will likely be the final time, finding solace with the few people who understand the complexities that shape their life histories.

🏷️ Filmmaker Tags: An-Phuong Ly Southeast Asian American Journeys Quyên Nguyen-Le Joua LG Oanh-Nhi

🎬✨ Introducing the Weekend Badge — your exclusive pass to Viet Film Fest 2026!🎟️ One badge. The whole weekend. Enjoy unl...
09/24/2026

🎬✨ Introducing the Weekend Badge — your exclusive pass to Viet Film Fest 2026!

🎟️ One badge. The whole weekend. Enjoy unlimited access to Viet Film Fest screenings throughout the in-person festival at The Frida Cinema, Sat, Oct 10 & Sun, Oct 11.

Catch more films, discover more Vietnamese stories, and experience the festival to the fullest — all with one Weekend Badge.

🎟️ Get your Weekend Badge today! https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

Presented by VAALA, proud organizers of Viet Film Fest

🎥 "Unerasable! (Diary of a Hidden Fate)" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026!🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure y...
09/23/2026

🎥 "Unerasable! (Diary of a Hidden Fate)" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026!

🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and be part of the story. https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

🎬 “Unerasable! (Diary of a Hidden Fate)" - A dissident Vietnamese filmmaker, who is now forced to flee his homeland after torture for his participation in the 2018 Vietnam pro-democracy protests, flees to Thailand and eventually Europe. The film is strung together as a bricolage-esque diary, interspersed with various other media ranging from Soviet propaganda to colonial archives.

“Practice Makes Imperfect” is set to screen at ! 🎬A thoughtfully curated selection of short films centered around a sha...
09/23/2026

“Practice Makes Imperfect” is set to screen at ! 🎬A thoughtfully curated selection of short films centered around a shared theme, celebrating Vietnamese voices, artists, and stories.

🎟️ Tickets on sale now, available virtually & in-person — https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co
🎬 To put art into the world is to find oneself. Art is something one must keep striving towards. The shorts in this series are a kaleidoscope of the creative processes and how informative they are to one’s relationship with themselves. “Practice Makes Imperfect” is an open discussion on what it means to commit oneself to the arts despite a myriad of social, cultural, and personal challenges.

⚠️This short film set contains mature themes and some sexuality. Viewer discretion is advised.

🎥 "Ky Nam Inn (Quán Kỳ Nam)" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026! 🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats t...
09/22/2026

🎥 "Ky Nam Inn (Quán Kỳ Nam)" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026!

🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and be part of the story. Learn more with the link in bio.
“Set in the mid 1980s of post-war Saigon, Ky Nam Inn is Leon Le’s latest romance drama detailing the nuanced lives of private individuals in the midst of a changing Vietnam. The plot centers on Khang (Liên Bỉnh Phát), a young translator from Da Lat who moves into a working-class neighborhood and meets a cast of animated characters that give the film its livelihood.

Though elements of the war are constantly present, Leon Le does a clever job of suggesting its lingering effects in the background rather than put them in center stage. Using strategic framing and the now-frequently aestheticized image of pre-Đồi mồi Saigon, the film is a tender treatment of stilted desires, emphasizing visual moods and deliberate silences over grand gestures, while highlighting neighborhood intimacies, and the colorful microcosm of alley life.” - VFF Curator, Vinh Phu Pham

🎥 "Hair, Paper, Water..." is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026! It will be accompanied by the short film “Dream of Em...
09/22/2026

🎥 "Hair, Paper, Water..." is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026! It will be accompanied by the short film “Dream of Emptiness”

🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and be part of the story. https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

"Hair, Paper, Water..." The Rục people (a subethnicity of the Chut) were once considered the most mysterious people of Vietnam. Since their “discovery” in 1959 from the deep jungle of the Annamite Mountains (Trường Sơn), generations of Rục have been slowly abandoning their long-standing tradition of cave-sitting and hunter-gathering. In this meditative, lyrical new work, directors Trương Minh Quý (VFF 2025’s Viet and Nam) and Nicolas Graux revisit Mrs. Cao Thị Hậu, a Rục elder and subject of Quý’s acclaimed documentary The Tree House (2019), to capture her present, day-to-day life.

“Dream of Emptiness” - Nghiêm has taken care of her grandson, Niên, for the majority of his thirteen years of life, just as Niên has taken care of Nghiêm, especially when her memory began to fail her. . Returning home after his job as a sand digger, Niên discovers Nghiêm is nowhere to be found...again

09/21/2026

What makes Viet Film Fest so special?

🎬 We sat down with actor Liên Bỉnh Phát for an exclusive Viet Film Fest interview!

🎟️ Tickets are on sale now through vietfilmfest.com! Discover Liên Bỉnh Phát in Kỳ Nam Inn, The Fatal Dealz, and Blood Moon Rite 8, along with the full lineup at Viet Film Fest 2026.

📽️ Viet Film Fest 2026 is the largest international Vietnamese film festival in the diaspora, celebrating Vietnamese stories from around the world. Join us October 8–11 at The Frida Cinema in Downtown Santa Ana for in-person screenings, red carpet events, and filmmaker Q&As, followed by our virtual festival October 12–25.

This special interview brought together California and Vietnam, with our California-based media intern and filmmaker Khoa Nguyễn conducting and editing the conversation with Liên Bỉnh Phát, who is based in Vietnam. We love creating opportunities for emerging filmmakers to connect with artists across generations and borders. The full interview will be live shortly — follow us for more updates!

A special thank you to director Leon Le of Kỳ Nam Inn for making the first introductions and for being a beacon of Vietnamese storytelling. We’re grateful for his generosity and for helping make this cross-Pacific conversation possible.

Viet Film Fest is a project of the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), connecting communities through Vietnamese art, culture, and storytelling.

🎥 "“The Fatal Dealz”" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026!🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and...
09/21/2026

🎥 "“The Fatal Dealz”" is set to screen at Viet Film Fest 2026!

🎟️ Tickets are officially live—secure your seats today and be part of the story. https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

“The Fatal Dealz” provides an adrenaline-rush of a moviegoing experience with suspenseful confrontations and the highest of stakes. An exciting venture for Vietnamese cinema into the heist-thriller genre, this feature film makes its US premiere here at the Frida Cinema.

🎬✨ Introducing the Xinêphile Badge — your all-access pass to Viet Film Fest 2026!🎟️ With this badge, you can watch every...
09/21/2026

🎬✨ Introducing the Xinêphile Badge — your all-access pass to Viet Film Fest 2026!

🎟️ With this badge, you can watch every single film — both online (Oct 12–25) and in-person at The Frida Cinema (Oct 8-12).
Don’t miss a moment of the magic — grab your Xinêphile Badge today! https://viet-film-fest.carrd.co

🌏 One badge, endless Vietnamese stories from around the world.

Presented by VAALA, proud organizers of Viet Film Fest.

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305 E 4th Street #100
Santa Ana, CA
92701

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