Director of the animated documentary “Love, Dad”, Diana Cam Van Nguyen has created a telling story of the unique relationship between a daughter and her father. Centered around the letters she received from her father while he was in prison, this film is the long-awaited answer, a daughter reaching back to the father who once reached out.
A year and a half in the making, “Love, Dad” began as the graduation film for Diana’s Master’s degree. It soon transformed itself into an introspective masterpiece of family and the love of a daughter. Born to a Vietnamese family sent to Czechoslovakia as a manual laborer, Diana grew up as a second-generation Vietnamese-Czech. She played piano and practiced ballet from a young age, falling easily into the arts. In her unique animation style, she employs multiple animation techniques, applying the technique that she feels fits with the story.
Source: DVAN
Having interned at Birmingham and Lyon, along with having been an artist in residence at Vienna MuseumQuartier, Diana’s short history shows her drive and hints at a bright future. During her study in animation at FAMU in Prague, her Bachelor Film “Mala” was awarded at several film festivals and competed for the ECFA Doc award at Berlinale in 2019. Her second film, “Spolu sami” internationally premiered at IFF Rotterdam in 2019. It competed at Annecy, BFI London Film Festival and was even a finalist for the BAFTA Student Film Award 2019.
Premiered in 2021 at the Locarno Film Festival, “Love, Dad” is gaining international recognition. It’s safe to say this is not the last we will hear of Diana Cam Van Nguyen.
Written by Kelsey McDade
Diana Cam Van Nguyen, dafilms, 2021, https://americas.dafilms.com/director/10016-diana-cam-van-nguyen, (Accessed June 17, 2022).
Ngo, May, Letters from My Father: A Conversation with Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network, 2022, https://dvan.org/2022/04/diana-cam-van-nguyen-interview/, (Accessed June 17, 2022).