The Paths of my father

Partager :

Note of intent

Does it make sense for a Brazilian-Vietnamese crew to make a film together? When my grandparents moved from Japan to Brazil almost a century ago, it was a question of survival more than discovery, as there were the lack of options. This differs to my experience of being able to move to Asia to earn my Masters degree at NYU. These past few years have given me the opportunity to re-connect to my heritage and uncover more cultural connections rather than differences. I met an array of people, saw many places and found several stories that I could relate to, be inspired by, and wanted to share. My Father’s Truck and, now, The Paths of My Father are results of my personal journey.

Synopsis

10 year old Vy, North Vietnamese girl, is very close with her grandmother, whom she spends her afternoons with selling street food. She knows very little about her mother, who died a long time ago, and has a distant relationship with her father, who transports people and goods from the countryside to Hanoi’s open market in his passenger truck. But when Vy’s grandmother suddenly passes away, Lim, her father, has no other choice than to take his daughter with him over the weekend as his helper. Set against the colorless landscapes of the harsh Vietnamese winter, The Paths of My Father is the story of Vy venturing out for the first time on an important journey with her father through the countryside of Northern Vietnam. The journey will bring them to the border of Laos and Thailand, where her father has some unusual business to deal with. Meanwhile, little Vy is on her own personal quest to discover more about her mysterious family background. Throughout the journey, as both father and daughter are forced to deal with some harsh realities about the nature of work and family values, the distant and tense relationship between the two begins to change.

Visual concept

The Paths of My Father is a road movie which we plan to shoot on locations around Northern Vietnam. We want to visually explore the tense relationship between father and daughter through beautiful but rough landscape. We would shoot the film in the harsh winter when the vegetation is dry and colorless; there will be fog in the air to give a feeling of mystery and the unknown, which represents their journey together. The father’s mechanical man’s world will be in contrast with his daughter, who wears warm colored clothing and is connected with nature (though she is unaware of how hostile it can be). It will have a very naturalistic look, shot with light equipment and a neo realistic style.