Kim Nguyen

Directing

Kim Nguyen

Born

1974-01-01 (52)

Place of birth

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Known for

Directing

Credits

27 titles

Kim Nguyen has gained international recognition for his films, which are known for their atmospheric visual style, and elements of fantasy and magic realism. He is perhaps best known for his fourth feature, Rebelle (War Witch, 2012), a harrowing portrait of child soldiers in sub-Saharan Africa. It received numerous honours including 10 Canadian Screen Awards and eight Jutra Awards — including trophies for best director and screenplay at both galas — and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Known for

Tout le monde en parle poster
4.7

Host Guy A. Lepage brings together six to eight personalities from different milieus—sports, politics, stage productions and more—that are the subject of everyone’s conversations and/or are important figures in recent events. Participants are invited to speak freely, voicing their opinions on headline news or on a subject that is near and dear to them. 

Tout le monde en parle

2004

The Hummingbird Project poster
6.2

A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.

The Hummingbird Project

2019

War Witch poster
6.6

Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona a 14-year-old girl tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.

War Witch

2012

Two Lovers and a Bear poster
6.5

Set in a small town near the North Pole where roads lead to nowhere, the story follows Roman and Lucy, two burning souls who come together to make a leap for life and inner peace.

Two Lovers and a Bear

2016

The Weight of Sand poster
NR

The Weight of Sand tells the story of Edith and Luca, two young adults who one day decide to embark on a great adventure that takes them from Spain to Togo. The journey takes a dark turn when they are kidnapped by jihadist forces and taken into the desert of Mali, where they are held captive for 450 days before attempting a highly risky, near-suicidal escape. The Weight of Sand is a suspenseful drama in which conflict brings forward profound questions about the meaning of life and our human quest: At what point do we choose to die with dignity rather than survive in misery? What is love? What is our relationship with silence and infinity in the 21st century? This epic and visually spectacular feature film is based on a true story.

The Weight of Sand

—

Eye on Juliet poster
6.5

The story of an unlikely encounter between Gordon, a hexapod operator, and Ayusha, a young woman from the Middle East. Gordon, guardian of a pipeline in this desert region, becomes fascinated by Ayusha, while piloting his robotic spider from the other side of the world, in America. Ayusha is promised to an older man she doesn't love. Despite the distance, their mutual fear and their imperfect interaction, he will do everything in his power to help her escape her fate.

Eye on Juliet

2018

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Hummingbird Project poster
6.2

A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.

The Hummingbird Project

2019

The Hummingbird Project poster
6.2

A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.

The Hummingbird Project

2019

War Witch poster
6.6

Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona a 14-year-old girl tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.

War Witch

2012

War Witch poster
6.6

Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona a 14-year-old girl tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.

War Witch

2012

War Witch poster
6.6

Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona a 14-year-old girl tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.

War Witch

2012

Two Lovers and a Bear poster
6.5

Set in a small town near the North Pole where roads lead to nowhere, the story follows Roman and Lucy, two burning souls who come together to make a leap for life and inner peace.

Two Lovers and a Bear

2016

Two Lovers and a Bear poster
6.5

Set in a small town near the North Pole where roads lead to nowhere, the story follows Roman and Lucy, two burning souls who come together to make a leap for life and inner peace.

Two Lovers and a Bear

2016

The Weight of Sand poster
NR

The Weight of Sand tells the story of Edith and Luca, two young adults who one day decide to embark on a great adventure that takes them from Spain to Togo. The journey takes a dark turn when they are kidnapped by jihadist forces and taken into the desert of Mali, where they are held captive for 450 days before attempting a highly risky, near-suicidal escape. The Weight of Sand is a suspenseful drama in which conflict brings forward profound questions about the meaning of life and our human quest: At what point do we choose to die with dignity rather than survive in misery? What is love? What is our relationship with silence and infinity in the 21st century? This epic and visually spectacular feature film is based on a true story.

The Weight of Sand

—

The Weight of Sand poster
NR

The Weight of Sand tells the story of Edith and Luca, two young adults who one day decide to embark on a great adventure that takes them from Spain to Togo. The journey takes a dark turn when they are kidnapped by jihadist forces and taken into the desert of Mali, where they are held captive for 450 days before attempting a highly risky, near-suicidal escape. The Weight of Sand is a suspenseful drama in which conflict brings forward profound questions about the meaning of life and our human quest: At what point do we choose to die with dignity rather than survive in misery? What is love? What is our relationship with silence and infinity in the 21st century? This epic and visually spectacular feature film is based on a true story.

The Weight of Sand

—

Eye on Juliet poster
6.5

The story of an unlikely encounter between Gordon, a hexapod operator, and Ayusha, a young woman from the Middle East. Gordon, guardian of a pipeline in this desert region, becomes fascinated by Ayusha, while piloting his robotic spider from the other side of the world, in America. Ayusha is promised to an older man she doesn't love. Despite the distance, their mutual fear and their imperfect interaction, he will do everything in his power to help her escape her fate.

Eye on Juliet

2018

Eye on Juliet poster
6.5

The story of an unlikely encounter between Gordon, a hexapod operator, and Ayusha, a young woman from the Middle East. Gordon, guardian of a pipeline in this desert region, becomes fascinated by Ayusha, while piloting his robotic spider from the other side of the world, in America. Ayusha is promised to an older man she doesn't love. Despite the distance, their mutual fear and their imperfect interaction, he will do everything in his power to help her escape her fate.

Eye on Juliet

2018

Une photo à Saigon : coups de feu sur deux vies poster
NR

Which is more final, the gun or the camera? Armed with a powerful visual style, Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Kim Nguyen reveals the elusive connection between two families and one iconic photo: Saigon Execution. Part history, part mystery, Saigon Story confronts the family secrets left in the wake of the Vietnam War, exposing the resilience of survivors and the blurred legacy of wartime memory.

Une photo à Saigon : coups de feu sur deux vies

2026

Une photo à Saigon : coups de feu sur deux vies poster
NR

Which is more final, the gun or the camera? Armed with a powerful visual style, Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Kim Nguyen reveals the elusive connection between two families and one iconic photo: Saigon Execution. Part history, part mystery, Saigon Story confronts the family secrets left in the wake of the Vietnam War, exposing the resilience of survivors and the blurred legacy of wartime memory.

Une photo à Saigon : coups de feu sur deux vies

2026

The Marsh poster
7.0

Two social outcasts in 19th century Eastern Europe, Alexandre and Ulysse, become friends and settle down to live alone on the edge of a marsh that is reputedly haunted by demons, monsters and goblins. These two men have been outcasts all their lives. Alexandre was raised in a nomad family that traveled from town to town, being rejected by the people of his homeland. Due to his physical abnormalities, Ulysse has always been pushed aside ever since his childhood. When a strange murder is committed in a nearby village, the peasants turn their suspicions on Alexandre and Ulysse, because they are different. In the eyes of the villagers, they are demons that must be hunted, burned and killed.

The Marsh

2002

The Marsh poster
7.0

Two social outcasts in 19th century Eastern Europe, Alexandre and Ulysse, become friends and settle down to live alone on the edge of a marsh that is reputedly haunted by demons, monsters and goblins. These two men have been outcasts all their lives. Alexandre was raised in a nomad family that traveled from town to town, being rejected by the people of his homeland. Due to his physical abnormalities, Ulysse has always been pushed aside ever since his childhood. When a strange murder is committed in a nearby village, the peasants turn their suspicions on Alexandre and Ulysse, because they are different. In the eyes of the villagers, they are demons that must be hunted, burned and killed.

The Marsh

2002

Happiness Bound poster
2.0

Poetry and cinema merge as 11 filmmakers bring to life 21 poems by Québécois poets.

Happiness Bound

2007

City of Shadows poster
5.5

A doctor broken by 8 years of war in North Africa tries to come back home. On his way, he is faced with a bigger challenge: save a city from the plague... and from madness.

City of Shadows

2010

City of Shadows poster
5.5

A doctor broken by 8 years of war in North Africa tries to come back home. On his way, he is faced with a bigger challenge: save a city from the plague... and from madness.

City of Shadows

2010

Truffle poster
6.0

Chaos ensues after global warming transforms a working-class Montreal neighborhood into a world Mecca for truffles.

Truffle

2008

Truffle poster
6.0

Chaos ensues after global warming transforms a working-class Montreal neighborhood into a world Mecca for truffles.

Truffle

2008

A Hundred Years of Happiness poster
2.5

A Hundred Years of Happiness; an observational documentary, is a personal portraiture of a Vietnamese farming family and their daughter Tram. While her father instils in her the importance of familial obligation to care for one’s ageing parents, her mother desires a secure future devoid of economic hardship. Determined to fulfil both her parent’s wishes, Tram pursues a new life in South Korea as a migrant bride, but her fast-tracked journey leaves little time for reflection.

A Hundred Years of Happiness

2020

The Empire of Scents poster
6.0

An exploration of our sense of smell and how it impacts our lives.

The Empire of Scents

2014

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Dear World

—

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Dear World

—

Denis Marleau poster
NR

This tribute to Denis Marleau takes a simple and forthright approach to one of the major themes of his work: the relationship between material reality and consciousness, or more specifically, Freud’s concept of the Uncanny, which often emerges when dissonance between material reality and consciousness rises to the surface. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2012 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.

Denis Marleau

2012

Denis Marleau poster
NR

This tribute to Denis Marleau takes a simple and forthright approach to one of the major themes of his work: the relationship between material reality and consciousness, or more specifically, Freud’s concept of the Uncanny, which often emerges when dissonance between material reality and consciousness rises to the surface. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2012 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.

Denis Marleau

2012