Filmmaker Carol Nguyen interviews her own family to craft an emotionally complex and meticulously composed portrait of intergenerational trauma, grief, and secrets in this cathartic documentary about things left unsaid.
“When I discovered my family’s stories, it really hit home with me. I was taken back to memories as a teenager trying to make sense of my own traumas alone, and not having the tools to express them.” – Carol Nguyen, Director
“Grieving is probably one of the most universal things that anyone can experience, and yet no one person grieves the same way as the other – so it can end up feeling incredibly isolating. One of the most captivating things about this, aside from its overall honesty, are the woven-in serene, meditative scenes of everyday activities like preparing food or taking a bath.
They are shown as solitary acts, parallelling the emotional rifts discussed in the interviews, as well as the premise of the short itself – being [interviewed] alone, then [listening] together.
Director — Carol Nguyen
Producer(s) — Carol Nguyen, Aziz Zoromba
Cinematographer — Walid Jabri
Editor — Andrés Solis Barrios
Sound Design — Giulio Trejo-Martinez
Gaffer — Allen Bleich
Art Assistant — Ophelia Spinosa
Colourist — Max Machado
Thanks to Travelling Distribution
No Crying at the Dinner Table (2019) is a student short film that Nguyen directed when she was 21.
You can find more about the film here and read the FAQs here.
