Synopsis
In Saigon, family culture carries on as it has for centuries, even when blood ties are broken. Through a mosaic of intimate portraits, Má Sài Gòn explores humanity’s universal desire for love, acceptance, connection and belonging through an LGBTQ+ lens. The film is a love letter – a bittersweet ode to a comforting yet disturbing mother, to a city that is as liberating as it is oppressive.
A word from Tënk
Having explored his Vietnamese roots in Bà nội, filmmaker Khoa Lê returns to his native country to focus on the emotional bonds that connect members of its 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon) is a mosaic of human experience imbued with tenderness, in which the city of Saigon glows with the vibrant colours of its queer community. Flamboyance aside, these individuals share their common dreams of love, acceptance, and belonging. Through their journeys at once personal and universal, this film points to family—biological or chosen—as a cornerstone of Vietnamese culture. Má Sài Gòn (Mère Saigon) is an eloquent celebration of the authenticity and power of human relationships within an ever-changing society.
Ana Alice de Morais
Programmer, RIDM
In collaboration with
