Star Nhà Ease at Cultplex
Tom Grieve, Cinema EditorBook now
Star Nhà Ease at Cultplex
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
Back at cinemas across the UK following a successful debut last year, Star Nhà Ease, the UK’s only curated season celebrating Vietnamese cinema, is at Manchester’s Cultplex this summer, where audiences can discover a selection of film screenings, Q&As, music and poetry.
The season is led by curator-producer Tuyết Vân Huỳnh and promises a programme that unearths lost gems and reimagines access, while spotlighting a new, rising wave of Vietnamese and East and Southeast Asian curators and artists. At Cultplex, there are three main feature screenings, capped by a programme of short films and performances.
On Sunday 6 July, Singing in the Rainy Afternoon is Trần Phương’s rarely seen 1990 gem, which follows a young woman who loses her sight following a fireworks accident, a pain compounded by her father’s thirst for revenge. Billed as a radiant, at times whimsical example of “instant noodle cinema”, the screening is accompanied by a musical response and Q&A by Nammy Wams.
there are three main feature screenings, capped by a programme of short films and performances
A week later, 2002’s Bar Girls (Sun 13 July) takes us to the vibrant, dangerous world of neon lights and fleeting pleasures that is Vietnam’s sex and club scene. The film broke box office records on release and earned attention for tackling taboo subjects rarely seen on the big screen in Vietnam. This screening will be preceded by a digital poetry response, available to all ticket holders.
In August, documentary Children of the Mist (Sun 3 Aug) confronts the practice of bride kidnapping as it follows 12-year-old Di, a Hmong girl from rural Vietnam. While Star Nhà Ease 2025 concludes on Saturday 23 August with a programme of short films titled Tides of Change, accompanied by live music from An Trinh, plus a a live poetry response by Tra My Nguyen Hoang.
Star Nhà Ease is presented by Tuyết Vân Huỳnh and in collaboration with The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD), the Vietnam Film Institute and Varan Hanoi. With support from Arts Council England, the British Council Connections Through Culture programme, and the BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding funds from the National Lottery.
