Jazz documentary to be screened for free in HCMC

The 97-minute documentary, which will be screened at Hoa Sen (Lotus) University, 8 Nguyen Van Trang, District 1, at 6pm on September 27, was inspired by a mesmerizing jazz show three years ago.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s director, producers and those featured in it.

Produced over three years, the film revolves around jazz artists from different countries who share a passion for jazz. They met at a small cabaret in Vietnam and performed Vietnamese folk songs, “vong co” (traditional southern music) pieces, and lullabies fused with the breath of jazz.

The film focuses on German saxophonist Fuasi Abdul Khaliq, 60.

In 2010, he visited Vietnam as part of the “Academy Jazz” project, designed to revive jazz passion among Vietnamese artists and audiences and consolidate its foothold in the country.

Khaliq came across Hoang Himiko and her friends who work in different art fields, including cabaret singer Yen Xuan, the wife of late overseas singer Duy Quang; and Tran Ly Tri Tan.

Khaliq then decided to hold a performance in which jazz and Vietnamese folk music would be improvised and fused, and the show inspired Tan to make the documentary.

“I wished I understood the Vietnamese lyrics in the pieces. However, to me, spoken Vietnamese language in daily life sounds like melodies already,” shared Khaliq.

Tri Tan, the documentary director, is known for several low-cost, critically-acclaimed films. One of his films cost only VND50,000 (US$2).

Tan said he wants to present “Chung ta cung thang hoa” to the Goethe Institute as a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the organization which made the wondrous meeting happen in 2010. He will also screen the film for free at several more local universities to revive youths’ interest in the less trendy genres of jazz and documentary.