“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become”, Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung said – and this describes how things in life may define our future, depending on our reactions to certain facts that happen to us. Actor-director Viet Tran (JV) discussed his new film “A Path Where No Man Goes” with journalist Despina Afentouli — a film that presents two contradicting sides of success; the bright versus the dark sides in a character-driven philosophical thriller about an unusual interview between a journalist and a young successful entrepreneur.
By Despina Afentouli for Winter Film Awards
See the NYC Premiere of “A Path Where No Man Goes” on Monday Feb 24 @7:45pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
What inspired you most in relation to the film “A path Where No Man Goes”?
What inspired me the most about this film is the idea that nobody is purely bad or good. There are neither a hundred percent hero nor a hundred percent villain. Humans will always have a little bit of both and that depends on different perspectives.
What is the message you would like to send to the audience through this film?
You can’t control unexpected things happening in your life, but you can control how you react to them. How you react to things, especially bad things, will determine how your life is and what character you are.
What was the most challenging part of shooting the film?
It took us 15 months to produce the whole film, excluding the script writing. The most challenging part for me was the lack of experience in how the whole process is supposed to be because this is my first short film, also first time directing, acting, and co-producing, so I had to pretty much learn the process on the go.
How important is it to preserve ethical values at work and in life generally?
I think ethics are a very important value that directly reflect a society’s justice system. You can’t ask for people to voluntarily be ethical when the justice system is untrustworthy. Being ethical needs to be both enforced and encouraged. Therefore law and order plays a crucial part in setting examples – a weak or biased justice system will result in an unethical society.
You represent the first generation of YouTubers in Vietnam- you have also received YouTube Awards. What does this mean to you?
To me, personally, it’s a proof of a choice I made that at the time nobody in the country believed it.
You have also received the Best Actor Award in the 2019 Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival. What are your expectations through your participation in Winter Film Awards?
This is also my first time participating in Film Festivals around the world, so I’m experiencing it firsthand with little to no expectation. I guess I just hope that it will leave a good impression to people who watch it.
In 2016, Forbes listed you as Asia’s top 30 under 30. What is the key to success?
I think it’s the fact that I’m always inspired to do something new that no one in Vietnam has done it before. This film is also the same story, being the first psychological crime thriller film here when everyone else does comedy.
You have been an activist in issues such as women’s rights, child abuse and global climate change. Tell us more about this.
Living in a developing South Eastern Asia country, I have seen a lot of inequality with the way women are treated as basically being inferior to men. Women and child abuse happens everywhere here, even in places like schools or hospitals, and a lot of people have the victim-blaming mentality in which women and children are in the wrong when abusive things take place. Coming from a family where my mom is a very independent and capable woman but still being tied down to that social stigma her entire life, I can see how much more she could have done and how much greatness she could have achieved if she were able to do what she wanted. I strongly believe both men and women should be treated as human beings.
The environment here in Vietnam has been getting worse for the past 10 years – the air in big cities is severely polluted. Nowadays, we rank regularly in the top 10 most polluted cities in the world. In areas where we have four seasons, we already feel the winter is hotter and shorter compared to 10 years ago. There was a huge water pollution a couple years ago by an industrial company named Formosa that affected the entire central sea. Overall, I think this is the ultimate price that developing countries like us have to pay in exchange for a booming economy. But I hope that when the economy gets better, life will get better, and eventually people will start to be concerned about the environment they are living in, just like in any developed countries. There have been some good signs about it being exposed this year when people can actually see how bad the air quality is, but we need so much more attention and action.”
To what extent is it difficult to promote culture through art at international level?
I think it’s still a visible challenge but it has been getting better the past few years. We are starting to see a shift of the market in Hollywood, on both the national and international level. For example, the success of “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” has opened different markets for US minorities, or the Korean movie “Parasite” winning Palme d’Or at Cannes 2019, or the whole Chinese actors/actress appearance for the Chinese market, and a new Marvel Asian superhero upcoming. So personally I think that after all it’s still an industry, therefore if introducing a new culture through art at international level makes money, it will definitely get a lot easier in the near future.
Despina Afentouli
Dr. Despina Afentouli (www.afentouli.com) is a journalist, sociologist and postdoc researcher with professional work experience in media, academic institutions and public sector worldwide. Dr. Afentouli holds a PhD in Sociology, a Master’s degree in International Journalism, and a Bachelor’s degree in International and European Studies and Translating/Interpreting (German-English). Dr. Afentouli has participated as a speaker, co-ordinator and organizer of educational seminars and cultural events.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 20-29 2020. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 79 fantastic films in all genres from 27 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
