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Lê Bảo

Lê Bảo was born in 1990. His interest in cinema began when he was a little boy looking through the small window of his house that sits by the river in the slums of Saigon. A self-trained cinephile, he learnt about cinema through watching foreign films on his computer and made his first short film when he was 20 years old, borrowing an old camera from a friend. His short films Coal and Scent were shot in the underdeveloped areas where he grew up. Taste, his first feature, is also shot with non-professional actors in the places he has known all his life.

Lê Bảo
The Sea is Calm Tonight

The Sea is Calm Tonight

Singapore / France / Philippines
  • ARRI Award, Asian Project Market, Busan International Film Festival
  • MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, Asia Pacific Screen Awards
  • Hubert Bals Fund Script Development Grant, International Film Festival Rotterdam
  • QPM-SEA Co-Production Grant, QCinema Project Market, QCinema International Film Festival
  • CMB Discovery Award, QCinema Project Market, QCinema International Film Festival
  • Central Digital Lab Color Grading Award, QCinema Project Market, QCinema International Film Festival
  • Caméra Libre!, Cité internationale des arts and centre national du cinema et de l’image animée
  • Nouveau Marché, Festival du nouveau cinéma

At sea, Vietnamese boat people of 40 years past have a miraculous meeting with Rohingya refugees of the present in their extraordinary parallel journeys to find peace.

Written & Directed by
Lê Bảo
Producer
Elizabeth Wijaya, Lai Weijie, Alex C. Lo
Co-Producers
Marie Dubas, Sheron Dayoc, Loy Te
Taste

Taste

2021 | Vietnam / Singapore / France / Thailand / Germany97 minutes1:2.40 | Colour | 5.1 | Yoruba / Vietnamese
  • Special Jury Award, Encounters Competition, Berlinale Film Festival
  • Grand Prize, Taipei Film Festival
  • Wild Dreamer Award for Best Feature Film, Subversive Film Festival
  • Special Mention, Prix De L'innovation Daniel Langlois, Festival du nouveau cinéma
  • APSA Young Cinema Award, Asia Pacific Screen Awards
  • Winner, Achievement in Cinematography, Asia Pacific Screen Awards
  • Golden Hanoman Award, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival
  • NETPAC Award, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival
  • Student Jury Award, Blue Danube Film Festival
  • Jury Prize, Festival International de Cinéma Asiatique de Tours
World Sales: WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL

Bassley, a Nigerian footballer living in Vietnam, has been unable to make a living since he broke his leg. He and four middle-aged women he sometimes works for decide to escape the disappointment of their daily lives. They go to an old house where together they create a special world for themselves.

But this intimate utopia cannot last forever...

Written & Directed by
Lê Bảo
Executive Producer
Chayamporn Taeratanachai
Producers
Lai Weijie, Đồng Thị Phương Thảo
Co-Producers
Marie Dubas, Jean Des Forêts, Markus Aldenhoven, Reik Möller
Associate Producers
Shih Chin Hang, Elizabeth Wijaya, Amélie Jacquis
Director of Photography
Nguyễn Vinh Phúc
Production Designer
Le Van Thanh
Editor
Lee Chatametikool
Sound Designer
Vincent Villa
Unconsoled

Unconsoled

2019 | Vietnam / Malaysia / Singapore / France15 minutes1:2.35 | Colour | 5.1 | Vietnamese
  • Commission, Astro A-List
  • Official Selection, Thai Short Film & Video Festival
World Sales ASTRO SHAW

In a distant land, beneath the surface, lies a small wooden house with a coat of blue sand covering the floor. A mother and her daughter live here with a stallion - growing old and reflecting on the melancholy of the family’s past and its absent members.

Written & Directed by
Lê Bảo
Executive Producer
Teng Lee Yein
Producers
Ho Hock Doong, Đồng Thị Phương Thảo
Co-Producers
Lai Weijie, Marie Dubas
Director of Photography
Tran Ngoc Khuyen
Production Designer
Le Van Thanh, Ngo Thuy Duyen
Editor
Nguyen Le Hoang Phuc
Sound Designer
Vincent Villa