Conversations in Hanoi

Tribute to Fanh, this post is created because you are missed.

Lots of behind the scene photos in this post. Keep scrolling.

This summer, I had one of the most unique experience in my life- asking strangers and friends on Instagrams to help me shoot a video for my Youtube channel in Hanoi.

It was the last 4 days before I flew back to the US for school that I had this idea. In several Instagram stories, I asked for people to go around with me and shoot the city, no experiences needed. I was so afraid that no one would reply to my request, I knew I’m no internet influencer.

Result: I received around 10ish replies from people who wanted to go around and shoot random with me. Most of them were followers from my Youtube channel, and some were acquaintances that I hadn’t talked to in a long time.

Two days before I flew back to the US, I went shooting Hanoi with an old friend from middle school and a total stranger. It was amazing! I got to reconnect with Fanh and met a girl who knew me from the Internet. Yay! My whole life I have never talked to stranger from the Internet until 2018 (yes I didn’t play online games and never in Yahoo chatroom), not to mention meeting stranger from an Instagram story’s invitation!

In that 2 days, I spent all my time with Fanh for location scouting and shooting footages around Hanoi. She was my classmate in middle school. We weren’t closed but we always had good impression about each other.

Fanh said she always wanted to capture the city, so my little project helped a bit with her procrastination. For me, I truly had lots of fun making videos with someone who was new to video storytelling.

Little did I knew, that was the last time I met Fanh.

Little did I knew, the footages I shot for her were included in a video she posted few days before she passed away. 

In 2 days, we bonded in the excitement of creativity, and the joy of being young and living in the city that we both loved. I somehow helped her create her last words. Now thinking about it, I’m happy with that.

Location scouting at 10 pm. Right after my Farewell party with my relatives, I cleaned the house, and hit the road to meet Fanh

I’ve been spending the last 2 years of my life making videos in many forms. For my Youtube channel, or for my film classes. Making videos took me to different places. And I meant it. You will find me suddenly asking things like, can I borrow your roommate’s shower curtain, or, do you know how I can steal a wheelchair tonight.

Sometimes, making videos takes you to meet people that you never thought of. Especially if that’s the last time you see them.

I went to the neighborhood Fanh spent all her childhood in. I got to hear about her semester in Spain. We even had the same pants in our closets. Those were snippets of little things that I probably wouldn’t get to share with a person that haven’t talked to since I left middle school.

Ding Tea xin tài trợ con ảnh này

Fanh was in the corner for test shots

Vẫn location scouting chỗ Hoàng Quốc Việt. Mình đã muốn đủ các thể loại địa hình ở HN, nhưng đi đâu về đâu, thanh niên Cầu Giấy vẫn về scouting Cầu Giấy thôi

Conversations in Hanoi was me recalling all real conversations I had in Hanoi during summer 2018. It was me with a Tinder date when he asked me where I wanted to go; it was my best friend telling me that her uncle thought I was naive; and it was me telling myself about the city I wanted to come back after studying in the US. These were all the conversations at a specific time of my life – the last summer before my senior year in college, meaning the last summer before real adulthood.

While making this less-than-3-minute video, the conversations were not only about me, they were also about the people I interacted with. Their dreams and hopes. Things they always wanted to do but never did. Their struggles to learn to love the city they grew up from (VNmese really struggling to love our country)

Hanoi is small and familiar to its residents. That familiarity is the joyful breakfast, but also the bitter water everyday, because people would think this city had ran out of places for them.

Khu tập thể Thành Công. The neighborhood Fanh used to live

I like this pic because you can see on the other side, the apartments were tiny blocks on top of each other like toys

Smiling but I was so scared bởi sợ tàu phi đến

My room

Check out the final product from all that talking and shooting in Hanoi. So many footages I haven’t used, and the files are heavy, but they are too beautiful to be in the trash. ENG SUB included, less than 3 minutes