Locarno competition title 'Hearing' lands at Heretic
DIRECT ANSWER: Heretic has taken world sales for Hearing (Thính Giác), Vietnamese director Lê Bảo's second feature and a Locarno International Competition title. The sales company also unveiled a clip ahead of the festival premiere, positioning the sound-driven drama for global buyers.
Key Takeaways
- Heretic will handle worldwide sales for Lê Bảo's Locarno competition entry Hearing.
- The film follows Ninh, a decibel-meter mechanic whose work mirrors his fractured family life.
- A preview clip has been released as the nine-territory co-production heads to Locarno.
- Lê Bảo previously won Berlin's Encounters Special Jury Prize for his debut, Taste.
- Sales inquiries are being managed by Ioanna Stais at Heretic.
Why did Heretic pick up world sales for Hearing?
According to Variety, Heretic has taken on world sales for Hearing (Thính Giác), the second feature from Vietnamese director Lê Bảo. The Locarno competition title is set to screen in the festival's International Competition.
Heretic said it is thrilled to work with Lê Bảo and called Hearing a profoundly moving and formally accomplished work. The company said it is excited to introduce the film to festival audiences and international partners around the world.
What is Hearing about?
Written and directed by Lê Bảo, Hearing centers on Ninh, a mechanic whose job installing decibel meters in public spaces and private homes takes on a new dimension when rising sound levels begin to register as signals about the state of his personal life.
Estranged from his ex-wife and young children while living with his mother, Ninh finds the distances between himself and those he loves measured in something harder to quantify than decibels. Sound sits at the heart of the film's formal ambition, with French sound designer Vincent Villa shaping its sonic world.
Who made Hearing and where was it produced?
The film is an expansive international co-production spanning nine territories: Singapore, Vietnam, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan. Producers are Elizabeth Wijaya, Lai Weijie and Huỳnh Yến.
Hearing reunites Lê Bảo with cinematographer Nguyễn Vinh Phúc and production designer Lê Văn Thanh. The editing team comprises Carlo Francisco Manatad and Dounia Sichov. The original score comes from Norwegian electronic music artist Mental Overdrive, the alias of Per Martinsen.
Why does the Locarno competition title Hearing matter now?
Lê Bảo's debut, Taste, earned him the Encounters Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and established the self-taught filmmaker as one of the more singular voices working in Vietnamese cinema. A clip for Hearing has now been unveiled ahead of Locarno.
Lê Bảo said he is happy to share the film, calling it a place where he has preserved warm memories and profound longing. For more festival and streaming alerts, follow our Streaming & TV Alerts coverage.
Sales inquiries are being handled by Ioanna Stais at Heretic.