The book presentation and film screening at the Goethe Institute Hanoi

At 7 pm, December 17 2011, Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender – Family – Women and Adolescents (CSAGA) cooperated with the Goethe Institute Hanoi to hold the book presentation “Left-hand” and the feature film screening “The Little Heart” at the Goethe Institute Hanoi.

The event was within the framework of the program “Women’s Fates” including 3 activities: Introducing and selling the book on lesbians “Left-hand” to raise fund for CSAGA’s activities on lesbians, holding the film screening “The Little Heart” about the human trafficking prevention topic and showing a documentary film of a Dutch director about a modern Indonesian family in two days, December 17 and 18, 2011.

The book presentation and film screening attracted the attention and participation of many guests and visitors. CSAGA and Goethe Institute Hanoi had the honor of welcoming Mr. German Ambassador to Vietnam and his wife to come and join the event.

In the opening speech, Dr. Almuth Meyer-Zollitsch, director of the Goethe Institute Hanoi showed her pleasure of for the first time cooperating with CSAGA to organize an event. She highlighted that the Goethe Institute Hanoi always paid attention to social issues, and to give support to CSAGA this time, the Goethe Institute Hanoi hoped to raise community awareness about lesbians, human trafficking prevention, and other issues as domestic violence prevention, domestic migration and HIV/ AIDS prevention.

Ms. Nguyen Van Anh, director of CSAGA showed her deep gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Meyer-Zollitsch and all Goethe Institute staff for supporting CSAGA to organize the program, and to Mr. Ambassador and his wife for paying attention to the event, and hoped for more fruitful cooperation in the future.

After the event, audience raised many questions about the book “Left-handed” and the film “The Little Heart”. Some audience raised some effective ways in popularizing these two products to many people in community, helping people have the chance to access knowledge of homosexual rights, human trafficking prevention, domestic violence prevention, prostitution prevention…

Something about the book and the film:

The book “Left-handed”: a collection of real-life stories of lesbians in Vietnam
The book is expected to help you have a comprehensive look on a group of people, who have existed from the dawn of humankind.
“It is the wall of lacking understanding about homosexuality that divides human into two separate parts which cannot be associated with each other, despite of thousands of supplications. This is a tragedy of human being. This book is what you need if you are trying to smash such wall or if you do not want to see the misery of human being. Seemingly, it is over said, but if you read it, carefully, you will understand that what I have just told you is not a lie.” (Writer, Nguyễn Quang Lập)
    
With such a given time of living, people could comprehend this core issue: the right to love is the most precious right to live. The happiness in love is the most sincere happiness of human being. A person has all rights but the right to love could not be seen as a real human. There is no unhappiness can compare to the misery of a person whose right to love is depreciated or trampled. We know about the unhappiness of heterosexual people. But we know very little about these of homosexual people, especially lesbians. We have been apathy, indifferent or even ignore their misfortune… Reading these true stories about homosexual love of women in different areas, I believe that every one shall be touched. Could each story help us to see, to sympathize and to respect the desire to live, the right to live and right to be a person of others? (Literature criticizer, PhD. CHU VĂN SƠN)

“Left-handed” gives readers with an overview about the world of lesbians, with many meaningful and touching ideas about thoughts and concerns which include tragedies, obstacles and desire for happiness and peace in pieces of life of homosexual people. In the context that homosexuality in general and lesbian in particular are unrevealed by mystery in the eyes of almost Vietnamese people and the society and that homosexuality and lesbian issues are seemingly distorted by wrong understanding, “Left-handed” is a pioneer and remarkable contribution in helping the society to have better understanding and opening about “left-turned” people”.

(T.N- Forum bangaivn.net)

The film “The Little Heart”:

The book presentation and film screening at the Goethe Institute Hanoi

Of all feature films produced in Vietnam, “The Little Heart” addresses many urgent and serious social issues. Issues as human trafficking, domestic migration, prostitution and domestic violence are well addressed put great impact on audience. With a heart-touching plot, the direction of an experienced director and the talent of actors and actresses, the film won many awards in international and regional film festivals. In Vietnam, the film won four important prizes at the 2007 Golden Kite Award. The main actress Lan Ha was awarded a Golden Kite Award for the Best Actress in 2007 and also the Best Actress Award in the 16th Vietnam International Film Festival.

In 2008, after great efforts, CSAGA was successful in buying the copyright of the film “The Little Heart” and after that used this film as a useful tool in communicating about human trafficking prevention. With the support of the Goethe Institute Hanoi, in December 2011, CSAGA holds the film screening to show the film “The Little Heart” with the purpose: sharing an effective communication tool in human trafficking prevention, and enhancing the opportunity to use the film in preventing human trafficking in some key areas in Vietnam.