Selection

2018 SelectionList

The Saigon Visitor

The Saigon Visitor

Country Vietnam, Japan, United States
Director Dave BOYLE
Producer Anderson LE
Writer Dave BOYLE, Duane ANDERSEN
Production Company East Films, Gray Hat Productions
Format DCP | Color | 100min
Genre Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis

While vacationing at a seaside resort, noted Japanese orchestra conductor Yasu INOUE and his Vietnamese wife, Anh are attacked by a pair of vicious Russian mobsters. However, the couple manages to fend off the attack—killing one of the mobsters in self-defense.

Legendary one-legged policeman inspector Vo is on the case, and immediately suspects there is more to the couple’s story.  His suspicion deepens when he realizes that Anh’s estranged father was executed for smuggling drugs.  Anh and Yasu insist they are just innocent victims in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

However, the stubborn inspector continues to follow his hunch. For years, Vo has chased “The Snowman,” an elusive drug trafficker so nicknamed because he is “the only man who can make it snow in Saigon.” Vo believes that Anh may be the key to cracking the case, and pursues the truth with single minded abandon. 

In order to prove their innocence, Anh and Yasu must journey deep into the underworld and confront the past—all the while pursued by a rogue’s gallery of villains with sinister agendas.

Director

Dave BOYLE
Dave BOYLE is a Los Angeles based writer and director. His critically acclaimed cross-cultural mystery Man from Reno was nominated for the John Cassavetes award at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards and was released theatrically in the US. He recently guest directed an episode of the Hulu anthology sci-fi series Dimension 404.  His past films as a writer-director include Surrogate Valentine(SXSW, 2011), and Daylight Savings(SXSW, 2012).

Producer

Anderson LE
Anderson LE diligently works in the global promotion of independent and world cinema as artistic director for the Hawaii International Film Festival. LE also serves as a program consultant for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy and the Singapore International Film Festival. 
Like many Vietnamese Americans, LE has pursued film production in the burgeoning Vietnamese film industry, producing commercially viable films for the local market. He is the producer of Saigon Electric(2011), Hollow(2014) and Bitcoin Heist(2016), currently on Netflix. 
LE also works for Hollywood director Justin LIN(Fast & Furious, Star Trek Beyond), as a part of YOMYOMF Digital, producing creative content for streaming platforms and emerging OTTs including short horror anthology Silent Terror with Asian directors Erik MATTI, WOO Ming-jin, Joko ANWAR and Noboru IGUCHI and upcoming unscripted series Family Style for Stage13, Warner Bros’s digital arm.

Production Company

East Films 
East Films is a new production company with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles. Our mission is to produce elevated stories in the Southeast Asian and international market, trifurcated with commercially viable feature films for the local market, prestige projects for the international arthouse circuit and potential franchises for both theatrical and SVOD. The founders of the East have racked up over 50 years of industry experience in the international film scene with award-winning fare that have premiered at Sundance, Busan, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. 

Gray Hat Productions
Gray Hat Productions is a production company focused on genre films with international or cross cultural themes. Newly established in 2018 by Los Angeles based Dave BOYLE and Tokyo-based NAGATSUMA Nobu —who previously collaborated on Man from Reno—the company plans to co-produce 1-2 feature films annually.