Program

Summer School 2001

Storyline

Summer 2001: Seventeen-year-old Kien, with his bright red hair, returns to his family in the market town of Cheb after ten years in Vietnam. But instead of a warm welcome, he finds an estranged father, a worried mother and a younger brother who is unwilling to forgive or forget. Amidst printing Pokémon designs on T-shirts, cramming Czech grammar and flirting by the lake, a hidden secret comes to light that will change life in the market square forever...

About the film/ the director

Duzan Duong was born in Hanoi in 1991. At the age of four, he moved to the Czech Republic with his family. He studied banking and insurance at the University of Economics and spent a semester studying film editing at FAMU. In 2015, he made his first short film, MAT GOC, which premiered at the Jihlava IDFF. In 2017, his next short film, BO HAI, premiered at the same festival and won the Best Director Award at FAMUFEST as well as the Best Short Film Award at Finale Pilsen. He also received a Special Mention from the jury at Prague Shorts and nominations for the Film Critics’ Award and the Magnesia Award. In 2025, his debut feature film SUMMER SCHOOL celebrated its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

He is a self-taught filmmaker with a passion not only for directing, but also for cinematography and, more generally, for all aspects of filmmaking. He is a co-founder of the Czech production company AZN kru.

Director's statement

My strongest memories are linked to my childhood in Cheb at the turn of the millennium. It was a time full of adventures and fun, but it also brought with it some painful moments, and it was precisely this mix of emotions that inspired my film.

FILMOGRAPHY
2013 – Mat Goc, docu-fiction, short film
2014 – Bboy Potraviny, short film
2017 – Redboi, short film
2017 – Bo Hai, docu-fiction, short film
2025 – Summer School, 2001, debut feature film