Kieu Chinh Returns to Vietnam With 'Chrysalis' at
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Kieu Chinh plays Ba Noi, the grandmother of artist Sir Daniel K. Winn, in "Chrysalis" at DANAFF IV in Danang, marking the 68-year veteran's first time returning to Vietnam in competition with a film of her own.
- "Chrysalis" is adapted from Winn's memoir "The Scarcity of Love," directed by J. Robert Schulz from a screenplay by Andrew Creme, and intercuts the adult artist's present-day studio life with his 1972 Saigon childhood.
- According to the film's producers, "Chrysalis" is the first American production granted permission by the Vietnamese government to film a wartime narrative on location in Vietnam, with wartime sequences shot across Ho Chi Minh City in April 2025.
- The supporting cast draws heavily from Vietnam's film industry, including Nguyen Vu Uy Nhan as child Daniel, Le Anh Huy as young adult Daniel, and Samuel An as Daniel's father, an interpreter between the American and South Vietnamese militaries.
- "Chrysalis" made its market debut at the 2026 Cannes Film Market with two screenings and picked up best actress for Kieu Chinh and best director for Schulz from the I Success International Awards, plus best director for Schulz at the Munich Film Awards in 2025.
- After Cannes in May and Danang in June-July, the film is scheduled to screen in Ho Chi Minh City in September, Beverly Hills in October, and roll out worldwide in November.
- Behind the camera, the production pairs Vietnam-based and U.S.-based teams including Tien Pham of Legend Artist Entertainment ("The Sympathizer"), Dang Thu Hien (a former Universal/Paramount/Disney marketing director in Vietnam), and David Hopwood of Group of Ferrets, with a score by Czech-born composer Elia Cmiral.
Why it matters: Vietnam's first-ever permission for an American wartime narrative to film on location reframes the country as an active production partner rather than just a backdrop — and producers explicitly position "Chrysalis" as a template for future U.S.-Vietnam co-productions, with Kieu Chinh's 68-year arc bookending that opening.
Ask SkimNews
