Hanoi Eclipse: The Music of Dai Lam Linh follows the challenges faced by the groundbreaking and controversial Vietnamese band Dai Lam Linh, while rehearsing and performing in their hometown of Hanoi. It shows how the band came together to create a unique form of popular music, which is both international in outlook and rooted in Vietnamese traditions and aesthetics. Followed by scandal at every turn for their experimental sound and their use of sexually explicit lyrics, the band have dared to flout taboos and fight for their creative freedom. Shunned by state-run organisations and disliked by the Vietnamese censors, the band were only able to record their debut album because of support from the Centre Culturel Français de Hanoi. Dai Lam Linh’s story of creative, political and financial struggle reveals what it is like to be a contemporary musician in a one-party state where cultural expression is tightly controlled.

Dai Lam Linh was established by the male composer, Dai, an ex-soldier who fought in the Second Indochina War (known as the “Vietnam War”), and two female singers, Lam and Linh. The film explores how Dai overcame the trauma of war by writing songs to honour the memory of the war dead and how the singers Lam and Linh embarked on an inner journey to discovery their extraordinary voices. With vivid footage of the band working in the city of Hanoi, the film documents the process of recording Dai Lam Linh’s debut album in 2009 and features an album-launch concert in the prestigious Hanoi Opera House.

Hanoi Eclipse: The Music of Dai Lam Linh has been screened at numerous international film festivals and conferences in Europe and North America. These include the Vietnamese International Film Festival (Los Angeles, 2011), Jean Rouch International Film Festival (Paris, 2011), Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival (Montreal, 2011), 12th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film (London, 2011 - awarded a "Commendation - Intangible Culture Film Prize" by the panel of judges), EUROSEAS (European Association for Southeast Asian Studies) Conference (Gothenburg, 2010).

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/5801