When a mother returns home with her young son to find her father in the kitchen, the simple act of preparing dinner causes her to confront her childhood and cultural identity. As her father prepares spring rolls, a traditional Vietnamese meal, both are challenged to find common ground. And what ultimately brings them together is the creative fusion of the youngest generation.
“Spring roll dream‘ is a stop-motion short film directed and animated by Mai Vu while she was enrolled in the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire, England. The story follows a single mother named Linh, who has built a life for her family in the US. But when her father visits from Vietnam, a statement reads: “Linh is confronted with the past and the culture she left behind and the question of where it came from. belongs in her family’s new life.”
The figures, scenes, and foods emerge from sculpted paper, and the film’s dialogue captures bilingual interactions that shift between generations. Interiors glow in the evening light and eerie events cause Linh to reconsider her relationship with her heritage.
‘Spring Roll Dream’ won the Lights on Women Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Watch Now Vimeo.
