THE DESERTED VALLEY Asian New Classics

An official selection at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival, THE DESERTED VALLEY is one of only a few Vietnamese films post-produced outside of Vietnam. It has already won several awards, including three at the 13th Vietnam Film Festival.

Rector Tanh runs a small rural school in the remote mountainous and misty Hoang Lien Son region. Secretly yearning for the Rector’s affections, Teacher Minh awaits her replacement at the school. Teacher Giao, meanwhile, enjoys great popularity among the students. Then, one day, a lie told to the oldest girl in the class unfurls a series of events that disrupts their well-established order. It is only unswerving love and loyalty towards the students that will protect this triangle from loneliness, betrayal and destruction.

Shot in a stunningly beautiful location in the mountainous region of Vietnam, THE DESERTED VALLEY is a romantic poem about the spirit and the passion that teaching demands, while gently revealing the humanity of the characters against the majestic landscape in which they live.