Language of Cinema: Conversation with Tran Anh Hung

In a rare New York appearance, acclaimed French-Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung joins filmmaker and professor Tony Bui for a special dialogue. The evening explores Tran's distinctive cinematic language and creative evolution, featuring carefully selected scenes from across his celebrated body of work.

From the intimate restraint of The Scent of Green Papaya to the raw and bruising lyricism of Cyclo and the sensuous ritual of The Taste of Things, expressed through food and touch, the discussion will trace how image, sound, silence, and performance converge in his films to create a deeply immersive cinematic experience. Together, the two filmmakers will reflect on craft, memory, culture, history, and the enduring power of cinema to evoke meaning beyond words.

This program is presented by Asia Society in partnership with Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, through its Vietnam Arts in Action initiative.

Tran Anh Hung is an internationally acclaimed French-Vietnamese filmmaker known for his refined visual language and distinctive storytelling. Born in Vietnam and raised in France, he emerged as a major voice in world cinema with his debut feature, The Scent of Green Papaya, winner of the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His subsequent films, including Cyclo, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and The Vertical Ray of the Sun, further established him as a filmmaker of rare sensory precision and emotional depth. His most recent feature, The Taste of Things, received the Best Director award at Cannes in 2023, reaffirming his standing on the international stage. Across three decades, he has crafted a body of work that bridges cultures while remaining deeply personal and singular. His films endure as defining works of contemporary world cinema.

Tony Bui is a Sundance award-winning filmmaker and educator. His debut feature, Three Seasons, became the first film to win both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was also Vietnam’s official entry to the Oscars, where it was shortlisted. He is a recipient of the Humanitas Prize and has written and developed projects for HBO, Warner Bros., and NBC. Bui serves as Artist-in-Residence at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute, where he teaches in Columbia’s School of the Arts and leads public programs that bring together artists, scholars, and cultural leaders. Through initiatives such as Stories Within Us and Vietnam Arts in Action, he advances cross-cultural dialogue using cinema and the arts as platforms for exchange. In 2025, Tony curated Legacies of War: Vietnam Across the Divides, a program of American and Vietnamese war films for the Criterion Channel marking the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.