Before the Sea Forgets
︎︎︎Trailer︎SYNOPSIS
On Da Nang's peninsula, where echoes of war linger, a gay tourist couple searches for a forgotten Vietnamese soldier's grave, shadowed by a mysterious skate crew carving their own paths.
The Young Man
Trần Thế Mạnh
The Older Lover
Nguyễn Lê Sơn
︎CREW
Written, Directed and Edited by
Lê Ngọc Duy
Produced by
Phan Nguyet Minh Nguyen,
Wan Ping Looi
Cinematography
Wan Ping Looi
Production Design
Đoàn Gia Hỷ
Sound
Sigon Sound Production,
Vu Thanh Long
Music
tttc (Nguyên Anh)
Original title
Before the Sea Forgets
International Title
Before the Sea Forgets
Duration
17 min
Aspect Ratio
1:1.85
Screening Format
Digital
Sound
Stereo
Year of Release
2025
Language
Vietnamese
Subtitles
English
Country of production
Singapore
Production Company
13 Little Pictures,
WBSB Film
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
This film marks my first experimentation with the narrative genre, blending my queer perspective and personal experiences of love with family history and my hometown’s past. Its inspiration lies in my father's haunting 1980 notebook, a powerful memento from a friend deployed to Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese army to eliminate the remnants of the Pol Pot regime. His haunting plea—"In this world, killing is the greatest sin... Later, no matter what I’d become, please still, consider me your friend”—fuels my desire to honor lasting human connections. The film explores these bonds by pairing individuals and situating them in contrasting landscapes, while also subtly questioning portrayals of comradeship and patriotism. Timed with Vietnam's 50th reunification anniversary, it reflects the universal themes of separation, reunion, longing, and forgetting shared across generations. This notebook also features in my ongoing docufiction short, “Ngay Thang Khong Quen.”
FESTIVALS
