The Buffalo Boy / Gardien de Buffles (2004)

Set along the southern coast of Vietnam during the French occupation in the 1940s, water is everywhere, giving life and bringing decay and rot. Kim is 15; his father and step-mother have two buffalo, their lifeline as subsistence rice farmers. During the rainy season, there's no grass and the buffalo are starving. Kim volunteers to take the beasts inland to find food. On this coming-of-age journey, Kim sees men mistreat women, men fight with men, and French taxes rob the poor. He works for Lap, a buffalo herder whose past is entangled with Kim's parents, and he makes friends who will lead him to his place in the world.

Indochine 1940, sous l'occupation française. C'est à Kim, 15 ans, que revient la charge de mener ses deux buffles loin des terres inondées du Sud. Seule richesse de la famille, ces buffles doivent arriver sains et saufs aux Monts Bâ-thé. A travers ce voyage dangereux dans des paysages immenses et recouverts par l'eau, Kim apprend la vie d'adulte. Il intègre une bande de gardiens de buffles, brigands à leurs heures, et découvre un univers d'hommes fait de rixes, d'alcool et de pillages. Progressivement, cette violence laisse place à l'amitié, l'amour et le bonheur d'être libre.

* Aka : Mua len trau
* Director: Minh Nguyen-Vo
* Main Cast: The Lu Le, Thi Kieu Trinh Nguyen, Huu Thanh Nguyen, Zan Sram Kra