Vietnamese Women in Film – Viet Cam Girl

The title of Son Doan’s film Viet Cam Girl translates as “girl from the internet.” As the name suggests, the movie tells the story of a young woman named Cam who works in a live webcam studio that broadcasts her on various online platforms. Cam’s father is supportive of her work but she feels trapped.

In recent years, Vietnam has taken important steps to protect children from sexual exploitation. The country faces significant obstacles to ending child exploitation. The main obstacles are a low capacity of law enforcement and the unwillingness of families to report child sexual crimes.

With a style influenced by Thai master Apichtpong Weerasethakul and last year’s Vietnamese Camera d’Or winner Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, Viet Cam Girl’s shadowy cinematography can feel impenetrable at times. But out of this darkness emerge frames of breathtaking loveliness. This is especially true for the final scene in which two coalminers, Nam and Viet, cradle each other and make love deep underground, in the sepulchral privacy of a nook carved out of the mine walls. This is a scene which can move even the hardest of viewers.