Summer School, 2001

Summer, 2001. Seventeen-year-old Kien, with his bright red hair, returns to his family at the Cheb market after spending ten years in Vietnam. But instead of a warm welcome, he finds an estranged father, a worried mother, and a younger brother who isn’t ready to forgive or forget. Between heat-pressing Pokémon onto T-shirts, drilling Czech grammar, and lakeside flirtations, a buried secret surfaces—one that will turn life at the market upside down… Told with lightness and humor, director Dužan Duong’s film offers an authentic look into a community through the eyes of the first Vietnamese generation to grow up in the Czech Republic.

The film was recognized with nominations at the 2026 Czech Film Critics’ Awards, competing for Best Screenplay and the Innogy Award for Discovery of the Year.

ONE SHOW ONLY! Wednesday, March 11 @ 7:30PM in Avalon 1

A Q&A with director Dužan Duong will follow the screening.

About the Director: Dužan Duong is a director and cinematographer of Vietnamese origin. He made his debut at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival with the short film Mat Goc and gained significant attention with the film Bo Hai (screened at FAMUfest, Finále Plzeň, Prague Shorts, SGIFF, and Cottbus IFF). His work focuses on themes of identity and cultural memory. He also works as a cinematographer in advertising under the brand Novák+Nguyen.

Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Reel Citrus.