Forgetting Vietnam

“It all begins with two”: departure/return, earth/water, history/tourism… Starting from the ancient myth of Vietnam’s foundation – a battle between two dragons – and from the balance between earth and water that defines the country geographically, Trinh Minh-ha composes a palimpsest of words and images filmed in 1995 in Hi-8 video, then in HD in 2012. Words, superimposed, come and go like a graphic ballet that adds a layer to the archaeology visible in the landscape, a mix of ancient traditions and authoritarian attempts to eradicate them.