On November 5, DTU held a Talk Show entitled: “American Film Showcase”, attended by the American filmmaker, S. Leo Chiang and Bintu Musa-Harry, Information Officer at the US Consulate General in HCMC, with DTU lecturers and Journalism & Communications students.
The cultural exchange program was jointly organized by the US Department of State and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. The objective was to present award-winning cinematographic works that reflect American social and cultural values, to enhance mutual understanding between Vietnam and the United States.
Guests speak with DTU lecturers and students
The Talk Show enabled Foreign Language, Humanities & Social Science students to meet and learn from the filmmaker on ways to question people about their lives, and then develop stories that can ultimately be turned into books or movies.
“My biggest motivation embarking on documentary filmmaking is my love of meeting new people, listening to new stories, visiting new places and discovering novel cultural traits.” said Mr. Chiang. “Innovation holds a strange attraction for me and my desire to see the world in different ways. It gave me the strength to pursue my work as a documentary filmmaker and enabled me to overcome all challenges in the long-term.”
DTU Journalism & Communications lecturers and students with their guests
Mr. Chiang shared his experiences and the secrets of selecting actors, scenes, camera angles and so on, how to create a captivating documentary that grips the audience from beginning to end. He added that a filmmaker must know how to choose a popular subject, present stories from new perspectives, and arrange the creative material in a way that conveys the right message to the audience. Mr. Chiang then showed excerpts and complete short films, focusing on how he finds interesting subjects and stories in everyday life and how he tells stories through candid images and sounds, so that viewers can easily understand and empathize with them. “We all know that an attractive story has many attributes, most importantly the way it is told, the storytelling.”
The DTU School of Foreign Languages, Humanities, & Social Sciences acting Vice-Rector, Dr. Hoang Thi Huong said. “Mr. Chiang has a special talent, telling stories in the language of film. I have known him through his impressive documentaries and remarkable record of Emmy and Gotham award nominations. He is Co-Founder of the Asian-American Documentary Network A-Doc, and a member of the documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. We are lucky to welcome him to DTU today and listen to his informative presentation on filmmaking, especially on the production of his unique documentaries that are often extremely emotional!”
(Media Center)