Screening times:
Friday, March 22, 6:30 PM - SOLD OUT
Saturday, March 23, 6:30 PM - SOLD OUT
Pham Thien An | Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain | 2023 | 178m | Vietnamese with English subtitles
with Le Phong Vu, Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh, Nguyen Thinh, Vu Ngoc Manh
Winner of the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the prestigious André Bazin Prize from Cahiers du Cinema, both celebrating outstanding feature debuts, this enthralling work from Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Thien An is a reverie on faith, loss, and nature expressed with uncommon invention and depth.
The sudden death of his sister-in-law brings unexpected responsibilities to Thien (Le Phong Vu), who reluctantly accepts the responsibility of bringing his five-year-old nephew Dao to their countryside hometown. On the road, Thien is drawn into a search for his long-missing older brother, haunted and spurred forward by a series of sublime dreams that reignite suppressed memories, forbidden desires, and spectres of his own youth.
What began as a journey home becomes a pilgrimage marked by visual splendor and mystical overtones, a quest for understanding and certainty in a Vietnam that seems unable to provide any clear answers. As Thien battles with the existential question of what is worth living for, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell interrogates the persistence and complexity of faith, not only in the spiritual but in the delicate beauty of earthly existence.
"Whether one believes in God or not," says director Pham Thien An. "One can’t avoid questioning who one is, and who one is living for."
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is a new classic of global contemplative cinema, a film for fans of Thai master filmmaker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director of Memoria and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.
"The panoramic intelligence of this film is a wonder." -Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
"Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell blurs the line between surrealism and realism, faith and loss in a subdued search for purpose in the wake of a tragedy." -Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
"A three-hour drama whose slender story serves as the skeleton for a formally exquisite examination of loss, faith, family, and connection, it's the year’s first masterpiece." -Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Caméra d'Or - Cannes Film Festival
Roberto Rossellini Best Film Award - Pingyao International Film Festival
Best Asian Feature Film - Singapore International Film Festival
Tickets $8.75 ($8 cash at the door if available).
