Tuan Andrew Nguyen Screening
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York.
Join us for a screening of two films by visiting artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen in advance of their public lecture on November 7.
The Sounds of Cannons Familiar Like Sad Refrains / Đại Bác Nghe Quen Như Câu Dạo Buồn
2021, Vietnam, 9 minutes, 41 seconds. In Vietnamese and English with Vietnamese and English subtitles.
In this film, Tuan Andrew Nguyen juxtaposes archival footage from the US military with recently recorded images of an unexploded ordnance (UXO) deactivation in the Vietnamese coastal province of Quảng Trị. For Nguyen, this work is part of a regenerative process. It aims to contribute towards the healing of a land that was dispossessed by its contamination. Taking its title from a line in the late sixties song Đại Bác Ru Đêm (Lullaby of Cannons for the Night) by Vietnamese songwriter and poet Trịnh Công Sơn, the film follows one of the unexploded ordnances and gives it a voice through an animistic transformation. From its drop, to its detonation in the rainforests of Vietnam, it offers closure to a menacing narrative that had been on hold for decades.
Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon
2022, 60 minutes. In Vietnamese with English subtitles
The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon explores the ways in which material contains memory and holds potential for transformation, reincarnation, and healing. The project is inspired by the people of Quảng Trị, on the North Central Coast of Vietnam, which was one of the most heavily bombed areas in the history of modern warfare. For multiple generations, its residents have lived with the physical residue and lingering trauma of war. Since the end of the Vietnam War, thousands of farmers have died from UXO (unexploded ordnances) and approximately 80 percent of Quảng Trị is still contaminated by undetonated mines and explosives. The film centers around a woman named Nguyet and her mother, who run a small junkyard on the outskirts of Quảng Trị. For the artist, Nguyet is both a fully fleshed character and a narrative vehicle for his own physical exploration of material memory.
About the Artist
Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s work explores the power of storytelling through video and sculpture. His projects are based on extensive research and community engagement, tapping into inherited histories and counter-memory. Nguyen extracts and re-works dominant, oftentimes colonial histories and supernaturalisms into imaginative vignettes. Fact and fiction are interwoven in poetic narratives that span time and place. Nguyen’s videos and films have been included in major international festivals, biennials, and exhibitions including, in the past year, the 12th Berlin Biennale; Manifesta 14, Prishtina, Kosovo; Aichi Triennale, Aichi Prefecture, Japan; and the Biennale de Dakar, Dakar.
Tickets
$13 General public
$8 Students with a valid ID
$6.50 Film Center members
$5 SAIC faculty & staff & AIC staff
Free for SAIC students
Unless otherwise noted, SAIC student tickets are released five days prior to showtime. Tickets must be picked up in person from the Gene Siskel Film Center box office. A student ID is required.
Accessibility
The Gene Siskel Film Center is fully ADA accessible. Theaters are hearing-loop equipped. For other accessibility requests, visit SAIC Accessibility.