Star Nha Ease: Bar Girls

STAR NHÀ EASE is a nationwide film programme bringing Vietnamese cinema to UK audiences, this year's season shining a light on the Đổi Mới era, the post-renovation period that sparked a wave of bold, commercially driven, and emotionally rich storytelling across Vietnam’s screens.

In a world of neon lights and fleeting pleasures, survival is the hardest dance to master.

Gái Nhảy (Bar Girls, 2002) is a groundbreaking Vietnamese film that shattered box office records and tackled taboo topics rarely seen in Vietnamese cinema. The film follows the lives of young women working in the vibrant yet dangerous world of Vietnam’s sex and club scene. In an era marked by rapid urbanisation, the women navigate a landscape of fleeting pleasures, economic struggles, and emotional turmoil, all while facing the harsh realities of the AIDS crisis.

Directed by Lê Hoàng, Gái Nhảy is a powerful exploration of agency, vulnerability, and survival in a society that often marginalises the women at the heart of its story. With a raw honesty that is both shocking and poignant, the film unflinchingly confronts the power dynamics of sex work, the harsh realities of gender inequality, and the fragile human condition in an ever-changing world.
The screening will be preceded by a digital poetry response, which will be available to all ticket holders. This exclusive response allows audiences to engage with the film’s themes through art and reflection before the screening.

This film remains an essential part of the conversation about the evolving role of women in Vietnam's rapidly changing landscape. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness one of Vietnamese cinema's most significant and bold films.