Emerging writer-director Dužan Duong, born in Vietnam and raised in the Czech Republic from the age of four, is completing his feature-length film Summer School, 2001, the first Czech feature to centre on the Vietnamese diaspora. The movie merges family drama, coming-of-age comedy and the topic of queer identity within a nuanced autofictional story. Duong has previously directed short documentary and fiction films exploring themes of identity, cultural displacement and the experiences of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic. His feature-length fiction debut draws on his own upbringing near a busy marketplace in western Bohemia, viewed through the eyes of a young boy. The film examines intergenerational dynamics, cultural expectations and the challenges of assimilation for one of the country’s largest minority groups.

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Set at the turn of the millennium in a town near the Czech-German border, Summer School, 2001 employs a Rashomon-style structure, following three members of a Vietnamese-Czech family – father Zung, ten-year-old Tai and teenager Kien – as they navigate cultural displacement, familial tension and the demands of assimilation. The screenplay was co-written with Jan Smutný (the short film Peacock) and producer Lukáš Kokeš (I'm Not Everything I Want to Be [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). Duong, whose background includes hybrid shorts and commercial work, combines scripted storytelling with a documentary sensibility, working with both professional actors and non-professionals from the Vietnamese community. The director employed a method of “controlled improvisation” during filming, encouraging cast members to respond naturally within the parameters of the script. One of the film’s aims is to dismantle prevailing Czech stereotypes about the Vietnamese community while exploring themes of identity and integration, as well as generational conflict, cultural expectations and queer self-discovery within a conservative immigrant environment.

Casting was led by Valeria Borkovcova, of AZN Casting, who identified many of the Vietnamese participants through community outreach and street casting. For the cinematography, Duong collaborated with Adam Mach (Victim [+leggi anche:
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scheda series]), who used natural light, handheld camera work and minimalist setups to achieve an intimate, visually restrained period aesthetic. The film was shot in a 3:2 aspect ratio, a photographic format that Duong associates with early Wong Kar-wai, contributing to what the team refers to as the film’s “Asian visual vibe”. The production brought together a close-knit creative team, including editors Jakub Jelínek (BANGER. [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Adam Sedlák
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intervista: Petr Hátle
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intervista: Adam Martinec
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intervista: Adam Koloman Rybanský
scheda film]). Visual effects and CGI were used sparingly, supporting the film’s grounded, early-2000s setting. The majority of the movie was shot in the Czech Republic, with selected scenes filmed in Vietnam. Given that Vietnamese communities represent one of the largest immigrant populations, the filmmakers believe that Summer School, 2001 has considerable international potential.

Summer School, 2001 is being produced by Lukáš Kokeš for nutprodukce (Czech Republic) along with Dužan Duong’s AZN kru (Czech Republic) and Jakub Viktorín, of nutprodukcia (Slovakia), in co-production with Czech Television. The film has received support from the Czech Audiovisual Fund and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Plzeň region and the Czech Ministry of Culture. The movie will have its world premiere at the upcoming Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, with the Czech theatrical premiere slated for 24 July, courtesy of Aerofilms.