30 April 1975 : Saigon is liberated. This documentary will not tell the story of 35 years of uninterrupted armed conflict – although the war is very much present… It tells the singular story of the city of Saigon, from its construction to its liberation and at the heart of the film is the Hotel Continental which had been owned by the Franchini family for some 50 years. Philippe Franchini, co-author of this film, had been the Continental’s last director. Today he is a writer and has published several books on Saigon and Vietnam
the Continental was built in 1880 at the dawn of French colonisation in Indochina – the city of Saigon seems to have grown around it. It’s more than just a hotel. For over 95 years it has been the social centre of the city and home to generations of writers and reporters.
The Continental still exists, restored to its former glory, like a kind of literary, cinematographic and journalistic witness to the past of the city.
AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING: French version only.