Summer School, 2001
FilmFestival Cottbus: 6 November – 4 December 2025
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1h 43m
Directed by Dužan Duong • 2025 • Czechia
Billed as the first Czech “Viet-film”, this witty, touching coming-of-age tale gives voice to one of the world’s largest Vietnamese diasporas. Hanoi-born and Czech-raised, Dužan Duong draws on personal history and a host of first-time performers for his portrait of an immigrant family on the edge of change. Father Dung (Đoàn Hoàng Anh) runs a clothing stall at a Czech market, where he is harassed by local officials and Vietnamese crooks alike. His younger son Tai (Tô Tiến Tài) is off to summer camp, while 17-year-old Kien (Bùi Thế Dương) has just joined the family in Europe after ten years back in Vietnam. Jumping seamlessly between these competing perspectives and alive to both the pains and pleasures of culture clashes and dual identity, Summer School, 2001 vividly proves the truth of Duong’s claim that “our fate is already an integral part of Czech history.”
SUMMER SCHOOL, 2001 • LETNÍ ŠKOLA, 2001
Directed by Dužan Duong
Written by Dužan Duong, Jan Smutný, Lukáš Kokeš
Cinematography by Adam Mach
Music by Jonatan Pastirčák
Starring: Đoàn Hoàng Anh, Lê Quỳnh Lan, Tô Tiến Tài
In Czech and Vietnamese with English subtitles
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Dužan Duong on groundbreaking “Czech...
Director Dužan Duong speaks to Sam Goff about his groundbreaking “Czech Viet-film” Summer School, 2001, screening on Klassiki until 4 December as part of our partnership with FilmFestival Cottbus 2025. Dužan discusses his family history of emigration in and out of Europe, his film’s tr...
