Meeting Room for Life and After-life

The reason to ask Nguyen Vinh Son to furnish a room in the Haunted House was a scene towards the end of his beautifully narrated film Moon at the Bottom of the Well (included in this programme). His tormented female protagonist finally asks for advice from a medium in the temple. The medium puts her into contact with a spirit from the world after death. The film describes the contact with life after this life in a completely convincing way and provides a beautiful example of cinematographic ghost life outside the horror-film genre.
In order to prepare his room, Nguyen went back to Hue, where he shot his film. Hue is the old imperial capital of Vietnam and, alongside the protected monuments, old buildings and rituals are honoured there. Nguyen wanted to build an alter as it can be seen in his film. He collected the necessary attributes on the spot and spoke to experts about details and customs. Baubles and real sacrifices complete the whole. On the monitor, he will show recordings of real rituals that are like theatrical and musical performances.
You could say that Nguyen’s room is furnished so that nothing can stand in the way of a real performance of a ritual in order to encounter the life after this life. (GjZ)