The Sundance Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in the world. This year, the festival received 14,849 projects with nearly 4,000 films, including 2,110 films from countries outside the United States. After many rounds of rigorous selection, only 82 films from 28 countries were selected to participate in the Sundance Festival, of which 75 films were premiering for the first time. In the Southeast Asian region, only two works were named as representatives of Vietnam and the Philippines.
"Maika - The Girl from Another Planet" is Vietnam's representative to attend the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
"Maika - The Little Girl from Another Planet" by director Ham Tran was inspired by the famous Czech work that has been associated with many generations of Vietnamese people, "Maika - The Little Girl Who Fell From the Sky", shown on Vietnamese television in 1990.
Inspired by the image of Maika, director Ham Tran made an impressive film about Hung - a boy whose heart was broken after his beloved mother passed away due to a serious illness. Hung lived with his father in an apartment building that was about to be demolished for rebuilding. The loneliness of losing his mother made Hung always alone until he met Maika, a girl from another planet who was looking for her friend on Earth. Maika helped Hung mend his heart so that he could find the right joys that a boy his age should have.
A scene from the movie "Maika - The Girl from Another Planet".
Director Ham Tran shared that the reason he agreed to direct this film was because he felt a deep connection with the character Hung. The director's mother had also passed away a short time before, and the sadness of losing her mother or Hung's inner struggles made him see a part of himself in it. He also said: "When I received the news that Maika would be invited to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, I was very happy. Mom, I want to dedicate this film to you."
This year, the Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 20 to 30, 2022 in the US. Founded in 1978, Sundance has evolved from a film festival for independent filmmakers to become the largest film festival in North America and is anticipated by the international film industry every year.
