A short film about ties and gaps between a child and a parent.

The author rediscovers letters her dad used to write her from prison. That love seems to be gone now. She decides to write back in hope to find the connection again. She puts in writing what could not be said: blaming him for the family's breaking-up but also trying to understand.

Directed by: Diana Cam Van Nguyen

Written by: Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Lukáš Janičík

Produced by: Karolina Davidova, Tomáš Šimon, Jakub Viktorín

Cinematography: Kryštof Melka, Matěj Piňos

Editing: Lukáš Janičík

Production Design: Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Darjan Hardi

Animation: Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Barbora Halířová, David Štumpf, Vojtěch Domlátil

Costume Design: Zuzana Formánková

Make-Up: Justýna Urbancová

Sound: Viera Marinová

Original Score: Viera Marinová

Visual Effects: David Štumpf

Cast: Linh Duong, Hong Nhung, Hoai Trung Le, Mimi Lan Nguyen Hoang

Original Title: MILÝ TATI

Original Languages: Czech

Film Production Countries: Czechia, Slovakia

Website: https://lovedad.film

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/lovedadmilytati
https://www.instagram.com/lovedad_film/
Statement of the Director/s
LOVE, DAD is an animated documentary about losing connection with my father and me trying to win it back. In the past, me and my dad were separated by prison bars, these days we are separated again, but emotionally this time.

When I was 11 years old, he wrote to me letters from prison that were full of love. I grew up, our relationship changed, and such acts of love seem to disappear. I am sorry for the distance between us. Now, 15 years later, I am answering to dad's letters from prison, addressing his deeds that made our family break up at the end and trying to understand him.

The film is built around voice-over presenting letters of both – me and my dad. The image plays with the material of the letters and those “tie-gap“ symbolics. It also reflects how I feel through the family history again. Through this film I am rediscovering dad‘s love for me.

Biography of the Director/s
Diana Cam Van Nguyen is a Czech-Vietnamese director based in Prague, Czech Republic. Her short films have been selected at festivals like Locarno IFF, Toronto IFF, IFF Rotterdam or IDFA. APART (2018) was a finalist in the BAFTA Student Film Award 2019. Her latest short LOVE, DAD (2021) won BFI Short Film Award, Clermont-Ferrand Connexion Award and got a TIFF Special mention. It has been awarded for Best Animation and Best Documentary at the Academy Qualifying festivals AFI Fest and Seattle IFF. Diana is a graduate from FAMU. In her works she focuses on personal topics through the means of animated documentary. She is currently developing a hybrid feature.

Filmography of the Director/s
2018 - APART, Short
2018 - THE LITTLE ONE, Short

Production Company:
13ka
Karolina Davidova
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +420721011357
Website: https://www.13ka.eu

World Sales:
Miyu Distribution
Luce Grosjean
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: https://www.miyu.fr/distribution/