A scene in Nuoc (Water) 2030 by Vietnamese famed director Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh. (Photo courtesy of the producers)

Entitled Nuoc 2030 (2030), Minh’s film is set in a fictional setting in which the south of Vietnam is submerged in water. The film was featured as part of the InterAsia Water(s) Graduate Conference, 2021 by Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University on March 18. At this conference, the director also joined a Q&A session via Zoom with the audience.

It is not the first time Minh’s film has been featured in a seminar on climate change. In 2016, Nuoc 2030 was the opening film of European Climate Diplomacy Week. The director was also a speaker at a seminar at the event after the film was screened. Minh is a Vietnamese-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He holds a PhD in physics and used to work as a lecturer before focusing on directing.

Nuoc 2030 was completed and premiered in 2013. In 2015, the film was re-introduced in HCM City during the 19th Vietnam Film Festival. The film was also featured in the 64th Berlin International Festival in 2014. A combination of various cinematic elements like mystery, romance and drama, Nuoc 2030 is set in the vast and beautiful coastal regions of Vietnam in the near future when water levels have risen due to global climate change.

Minh received many international accolades and awards for his directorial debut including the New Directors Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, the FIPRESCI Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Youth Jury Award at the Locarno International Film Festival.