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Nguyễn Kim Hồng

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In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Nguyễn, but is often simplified to Nguyen in English-language text. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Kim Hồng.

Nguyễn Kim Hồng, a Vietnamese-Taiwanese documentary filmmaker, was raised in rural province in Vietnam, alongside nine siblings. Dropping out of primary school to support family of agricultural workers, she later moved to Taiwan at the age of 21 after marrying a Taiwanese. Facing domestic abuse, Nguyễn divorced and sustained herself through various jobs. In 2008, she crossed paths with Tsai Tsung-lung, a documentary maker, from whom she learned photography. They not only became life partners but also collaborated in their careers. Nguyễn's documentaries, highlighting the injustices faced by immigrants, have earned recognition in the Taiwanese film industry.

Early life

Nguyễn Kim Hồng (Chữ Hán and Chinese: 阮金紅; Pinyin: Ruǎn Jīnhóng; born May 15, 1980) is a Vietnamese-origin Taiwanese documentary film director.

She grew up in rural Đồng Tháp province in Vietnam with nine siblings and had to drop out of school after fifth grade to help her family of agricultural workers. Nguyễn, burdened by her family's patriarchal beliefs, contemplated leaving her home due to a lack of recognition. Inspired by the success of women from her village who had become brides in Taiwan, she yearned for a new life away from her family's oppressive environment[1] Kim Hồng decided to marry a Taiwanese man and moved to Taiwan in 2000 at 21. Her ex-husband abused her, accrued debts from gambling and her in-laws never accepted her, so she divorced him in 2008. After the divorce, she worked various jobs including electroplating, stamping press, screw molding, and gas stations.[2] As a single mother with custody of their daughter, she faced poverty and even thought of suicide. She took self-help courses to recover and volunteered at a local immigrant organization. That year, she met Tsai Tsung-lung (Chinese: 蔡崇隆; pinyin: Cài Chónglóng), a fellow documentary filmmaker and divorcee, at a film seminar. She appreciated the help he gave as an acquaintance, and they ended up courting and marrying the next year. They frequently collaborate on each other's films.

Early documentary

Out/Marriage

Out/Marriage, her first film, focused on other Vietnamese women in Taiwan whose marriages to Taiwanese citizens had failed and was released in 2012.[3]

This film marks Taiwan's first documentary from the perspective of new immigrants discussing cross-cultural marriages. The documentary starts by delving into the personal experiences of new immigrant women, chronicling the shattered marriages of four foreign sisters living in Taiwan. They arrived in Taiwan with dreams of finding happiness, but in the end, they all ended up on the path of divorce, whether by choice or not.

The situations of sisters vary greatly. Some encounter husbands with alcohol problems, leading to neglect, domestic violence, and even threats with a knife. Others marry reluctantly to fulfill their parents' wish for descendants, devoid of any emotional connection. Meanwhile, a woman from Indonesia faces challenges due to cultural differences between her and her in-laws, putting her husband in a difficult position. In the end, he chooses family ties over love.[4] After the divorce, the documentary recorded how they would choose the next chapter in their lives. Furthermore, the documentary recorded what kind of life and educational challenges would their Taiwanese children face after their parents' international marriages fell apart.[5][6]

For the film, Kim Hồng successfully applied for a Wanderer grant from the Cloud Gate Dance Theater, the first such grant given to a "new immigrant".[7] It was nominated for Best Documentary at the Taipei Film Festival.[8]

The Lovable Strangers

Her second film, a short video titled Lonely Strangers (2013), covered the lives and struggles of migrant Vietnamese workers in Taiwan who had illegally migrated and changed their jobs.[9] The number of foreign laborers in Taiwan is estimated at around 728,081,[10] but their way of life has always been quite different from that of Taiwanese people. Among them, there is a group known as "undocumented foreign workers",[11] who remain largely invisible, especially with the prevalence of negative media coverage, forcing them to work in the shadows.[12] Undocumented foreign workers, with a significant portion coming from Vietnam,[13] came to know their fellow laborers who had ended up working abroad by chance. Through this, they gradually understood why this familiar yet unfamiliar group of people had to start this unfortunate, fearful, and challenging journey to earn a living.[14]

According to Tsai, both Kim Hồng and the migrant workers were apprehensive about each other, but slowly built up trust during filming due to their shared background and promises of anonymity for the workers.[15] She was awarded the Golden Harvest Award in 2014 for The Lovable Strangers.[16]

The recent documentaries

See You, Lovely Strangers

See You, Lovely Strangers is a documentary as a sequel to the 2013 production "Lonely Strangers "[17] The title carries a double meaning: one follows the protagonist Ah Fu in Vietnam, and the other introduces the public to a group of fugitive migrant workers scattered across Taiwan.[18] The film explores the lives of four Vietnamese migrant workers who ventured to Taiwan with dreams of returning home with newfound prosperity.[19] However, their aspirations were shattered, and they found themselves labeled as "people who cannot be seen," despite not being criminals.These individuals were relegated to the fringes of Taiwanese society, where they hid in obscurity, silently working to eke out a living.[20][21]

In 2016, the total number of migrant workers in Taiwan had reached 600,000.[22] The purpose of this film was to uncover the helplessness of illegal foreign migrant workers.[23] See You, Lovely Strangers won Best Documentary at the 2016 Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films[24] and the 2017 Labor Academy Award.[25][26] Nguyễn Kim Hồng took a year-long break from filmmaking.[27] Additionally, the documentary has not been publicly screened outside schools and film festivals[28] to preserve the workers' privacy and trust[29]

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Nguyễn Kim Hồng also participated in the documentary "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep ", directed by Tsai Tsung-lung. It is adapted from a criminal case and tragic incident that occurred in Taiwan in 2017.An undocumented Vietnamese migrant worker Quoc Phi Nguyen was fired nine shots to death by a young and newly recruited policeman when Nguyen was naked, walking along a river in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and having a physical confrontation with pedestrians and the police.[30] This film reconstructs Ruan Guofei's life trajectory and combines the original video of the incident with the on-site inspection of migrant workers to guide the audience to think that there is actually a larger structural problem behind Ruan's death case.[31]

At the 59th Golden Horse Awards in 2022, the film won the Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary.[32] In 2023, it was exhibited in the Right to Know section of the Czech ONE WORLD International Human Rights Film Festival.[33] This marked the first time a documentary on migrant workers received the Golden Horse Award, creating a platform for voiceless migrants and drawing attention to related issues in mainstream society.[34]

References

  1. ^ giới, Tạp chí Panorama, Tạp chí quốc tế hóa, biên tập song ngữ, tổng hợp văn hóa của người Hoa trên toàn thế. "Basking in Sunshine After Rain—Videographer Nguyen Kim Hong - Taiwan Panorama". Tạp chí Panorama, Tạp chí quốc tế hóa, biên tập song ngữ, tổng hợp văn hóa của người Hoa trên toàn thế giới (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ 好生活. "台灣越南都是家 阮金紅用真心換回真感情 | 台灣新力 - 好生活". howlife.cna.com.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  3. ^ "片單介紹". www.wmw.org.tw. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  4. ^ Guan, Zhongxiang (6 December 2013). ""Broken Marriage" A journey to pursue happiness".
  5. ^ "阮金紅". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  6. ^ "失婚記". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  7. ^ "失婚記｜阮金紅｜國藝會補助成果檔案庫". archive.ncafroc.org.tw. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  8. ^ "失婚記｜阮金紅｜國藝會補助成果檔案庫". archive.ncafroc.org.tw. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  9. ^ "阮金紅". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  10. ^ 國家發展委員會 (29 June 2015). "國家發展委員會". 國發會全球資訊網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  11. ^ "可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  12. ^ 東南亞外勞人力仲介. "失聯移工逾8萬！這行業移工逃跑者最多 數據大解析". 東南亞人力仲介 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  13. ^ "losing labor in Taiwan".
  14. ^ "可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  15. ^ "可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  16. ^ "可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  17. ^ "再見 可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 9 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  18. ^ "《再見 可愛陌生人》──阮金紅、蔡崇隆紀錄移工生存困境". mag.ncafroc.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  19. ^ "再見 可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 9 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  20. ^ "【投書】《再見，可愛陌生人》──他們的逃，有那麼多不得已".
  21. ^ "再見 可愛陌生人". TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫 (in Traditional Chinese). 9 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Number of migrant workers in Taiwan tops 600,000". Focus Taiwan. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  23. ^ 編, a. "拍片紀錄新移民姊妹失落的幸福！阮金紅：感恩台灣帶給我的一切". Marie Claire 美麗佳人 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  24. ^ "'See You, Lovable Strangers'. Exploring experiences of Vietnamese irregular migrants in Taiwan through filmmaking". www.iias.asia. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  25. ^ 臺北市政府勞動局 (27 February 2018). "臺北市政府勞動局". 臺北市政府勞動局 Department of Labor, Taipei City Government. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  26. ^ 臺北市政府勞動局 (23 March 2018). "臺北市政府勞動局". 臺北市政府勞動局 Department of Labor, Taipei City Government. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Basking in Sunshine After Rain—Videographer Nguyen Kim Hong - Taiwan Panorama". Taiwan Panorama Magazine (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  28. ^ "《再見 可愛陌生人》─ 阮金紅、蔡崇隆紀錄移工生存困境". mag.ncafroc.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Basking in Sunshine After Rain—Videographer Nguyen Kim Hong". Taiwan Panorama Magazine (in Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  30. ^ Wu, Chee-Hann (11 January 2023). "Small Step from You, A Great Leap for Migrant Workers: Documentary, 'Civil Society' and 'And Miles to Go Before I Sleep' (2022)". Taiwan Insight. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  31. ^ "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep-TFAI-國家電影及視聽文化中心 Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute". www.tfai.org.tw. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  32. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  33. ^ "九槍". Opentix 兩廳院文化生活 (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  34. ^ Wu, Chee-Hann (11 January 2023). "Small Step from You, A Great Leap for Migrant Workers: Documentary, 'Civil Society' and 'And Miles to Go Before I Sleep' (2022)". Taiwan Insight. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
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