Director Leon Le’s “Ky Nam Inn” has landed in the international spotlight as the film set in post-war Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, received the Shooting Star Award at the 45th Hawai’i International Film Festival (HIFF45).
The film was part of HIFF45’s New American Perspectives Program.
The 2025 Shooting Star Award panel includes Academy Award-nominated producer Diane Moy Quon.
“Ky Nam Inn” will be released in local cinemas on November 28, Vietnam News reported.
A ‘poignant glimpse’
“Ky Nam Inn” is a sentimental drama that follows a young translator and an older widow from opposing sides of the conflict as they navigate unspoken sorrow, desire, and duty amid the flow of everyday life in Ho Chi Minh City.
“Each character in ‘Ky Nam Inn’ is distinct and fully realized, their presence is vital to the story’s emotional fabric,” the jury board said.
“The film manages to say so much with so little, offering audiences of today a poignant glimpse into another time and social order.”
“Ky Nam Inn,” through beautifully woven poetry, literature, and music, reminds the audience of the soft power of artistry rooted in humanity.
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Award-winning cast
The main cast of the Leon Le film includes award-winning actors Lien Binh Phat as Khang and Do Thi Hai Yen as Ky Nam.
Phat recently won Best Leading Actor at the Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan’s equivalent to the Emmy Awards.
In 2005, Yen clinched Best Leading Actress at the Vietnam Cinematography’s Golden Kite for “Pao’s Story.”
The 43-year-old actress also starred in “The Quiet American,” alongside Academy Award winners Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser.
“Ky Nam Inn” is the second film of actor Phat and director Le.
Le’s debut film and their first project together, “Song Lang” (Tap Box), bagged the Golden Lotus, the country’s most coveted prize for cinematic work at the 21st Vietnam National Film Festival.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino