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ĐIỂM LẶNG – THE SILENT ORANGE

Diu and Nuc's Do family in central Vietnam mourn the loss of twelve children — some stillborn, others born with such severe impairments that they could not survive. For decades, they have devoted their lives to caring for their two surviving daughters, both living with disabilities.

  • Matthias Leupold
    Director
    Lighter Than Orange-The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam, The Song of the Valley, Hugo Jaeggi-Photographer, The Noise of Letea, In the Name of Vjosa, Beyond the Berlin Wall-Reports from Stasi Prisoners
  • Matthias Leupold
    Producer
  • Eric Berg
    Cinematography, Sound Recordings
    The Noise of Letea, In the Name of Vjosa, Beyond the Berlin Wall
  • Phuong Hoang
    Memeber of the film collective, translations, logistic, guide, consulting
  • Lorena Dütsch
    Member of the film collective, finance
  • Berglind Sóley Jansdóttir Elstermann
    Member of the film collective, cinematography
    Beyond the Berlin Wall
  • Manja Ebert
    Sound Design
    The Noise of Letea, Lighter Than Ornage-The Legacy of Dioin in Vietnam, Beyond the Berlin Wall
  • Luna Victoria
    Editing
  • Lê Hoàn Khai
    Translations
  • Đặng Thị Mai Hương
    Translations
  • Matthias Leupold
    Writer
  • Matthias Leupold
    Production
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Essay film
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes 23 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    22,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Vietnam
  • Language:
    Vietnamese
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No

  • Germany
Director Biography - Matthias Leupold

Matthias Leupold was born in East Berlin in 1959. Since the 1980s he has been creating a parallel world through his staged photography. Scenes from this world have been exhibited in over 50 exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the USA, and are published in several books, as well as archived in international collections. Leupold is a professor of Photography at an art and design university in Berlin. His documentary: LIGHTER THAN ORANGE–THE LEGACY OF DIOXIN IN VIETNAM, 2015, 72 min, was selected from several festivals in Europe, USA and Asia and awarded with GRAND PRIZE Documentary Feature Award of Socially Relevant Film Festival New York and Best Feature Documentary Los Angeles CineFest, 42 broadcasts Deutsche Welle DE, EN, ES, AR, more: www.lighterthanorange.com. 2020 THE SONG OF THE VALLEY, with Marie Séférian a film about Syrian refugees in Lebanon, www.thesongofthevalley.com

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Director Statement

"We're trying to get by somehow, but we're not blaming anyone. I wanted to defend my country.
If it hadn't happened to me, it would have been someone else." This sentence from Diu, which he spoke at a first meeting in 2012, changed my life completely.
A very quiet essay film. Very little is said, just the bare essentials, the information the family exchanges in everyday life. Not an interview in the usual sense.
The camera looks at everyday events like a fly on the wall. The film crew is not present in the house during filming, the cameras were set up and started and the film collective left the location.
The film explores the question: How do the survivors deal with this fate?
In the end, the question remains: what will happen if the parents are one day no longer able to care for their two daughters?
Thank you to the Foundation Umverteilen and Vereinigung Schweiz Vietnam VSV for the friendly support.