Entertainment
Trinh T. Minh-ha Still Sets Her Own Rules – and Heads to ‘The Undying Desert’ in Her First Film Set in the U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)
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Published 10/30/2026 4:44:06 PM
Trinh T. Minh-ha Talks New Film 'The Undying Desert' at Ji.hlava
Vietnamese-American filmmaker, writer, feminist and post-colonial theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha is readying her upcoming film “The Undying Desert.”
“I’ve just finished editing it,” she told Variety at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, where she’s celebrating a retrospective.
“I’ve made films in Africa, China, Vietnam and Japan, and people would ask: ‘When are you going to make a film about the U.S.?’ They were right, because I live there.”
She has been shooting in the Great Basin Desert for almost two decades.
“A desert is huge, majestic and beautiful. At the same time, it’s considered ‘arid’ by colonizing forces. All these prejudices about what a desert is still exist in our language. But it’s actually very lively,” she stated.
In “The Undying Desert,” she examines people’s relationship with it.
“For me, this film is closely related to the way of life of indigenous people, especially Native Americans. The other theme has to do with why we go to the desert in the first place. It wipes away every notion that allows us to conform to certain ways of life. Suddenly, you don’t have to be polite or compete with others. You go there to be with your true self.”
Not everyone is ready for that, though.
“Some just use it as a terrain for sports. They’re there, but they are not with the desert. Native Americans see the desert as layers and layers of life, but it’s even more radical. They always remember that their ancestors are with them too. Life and death go together.”
Trinh T. Minh-ha is not finished with this subject just yet – she started working on another film immediately after “The Undying Desert.” Co-directed with longtime collaborator Jean-Paul Bourdieu, it will also be set there.
“In the Great Basin Desert, there are groups of people who isolate themselves and turn this location into a research center for Mars. They plan to go there and colonize another planet,” she said.
“With every one of these trips to the desert, I could see myself changing. I was learning how I feel and what the desert actually brings me.”
With works such as “Forgetting Vietnam,” “Surname Viet Given Name Nam,” “Reassemblage” and “What About China?,” she never focuses on individual stories.
“It’s like poetry, where the ‘I’ is collective. You’re inviting people to come in,” she explained.
“I’ve always been engaged in politics, but as Jean-Luc Godard also noticed, there’s a difference between the political and politics. Everything we do can be political. This is particularly relevant for women because we’re very attuned to everyday activities. If you remain blind to that, you might make a political film about a progressive subject. But the way you treat it can be very regressive. When you turn the camera toward someone else, you also have to turn it toward yourself.”
For Trinh T. Minh-ha, “cinema is not just an experience for the eyes.”
“It’s an experience for the whole body. When I was first showing ‘Reassemblage,’ someone told me: ‘I’m hearing this film with my eyes and seeing it with my ears.’ I replied: ‘Perfect’,” she smiled.
“In East Asia, the senses are not that separate. They overlap. A painter is also a musician and a poet. I think it’s the same with film. It’s better to come with an open mind and see how it speaks to you, rather than focusing on what constitutes a ‘good documentary,’ or what its story or message is.”
That’s what she tells emerging filmmakers, too.
“You set up the rules for yourself. I’m very glad that I was able to stick with the path I chose and not be intimidated by all these oppressive regulations.”
Documentary filmmakers have more leeway today, she argued. But that doesn’t mean one should take all this freedom for granted.
“On the contrary, you have to be much more responsible because you are the one setting the rules. When people ask if your film is fiction or documentary, you have to find a way to talk to them. And say: ‘Why do you need to know?’ Of course, you don’t always succeed. Even after so many years of making films, producers or programmers are not immediately interested in my work. But I’m still building my audience.”
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The Japan IP Market will be back in Cannes next May for a second straight year. The Cannes Film Market and TIFFCOM, the content market of the Tokyo International Film Festival, are again teaming up on the event, and the 2027 edition will run May 14-15.
The return was revealed at TIFFCOM in Tokyo, during a conference on how Japan can forge new international partnerships after its stint as Country of Honor in Cannes. Alexandra Zakharchenko, head of industry programs at the Cannes Film Market, was among the panelists.
“The success of Japan, Country of Honor showed what can happen when a focused national presence creates lasting opportunities for the industry. The Japan IP Market is one of those outcomes: a collaboration that extends beyond a single edition and gives Japanese intellectual properties greater access to international partners,” said Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Cannes Film Market. “I’m delighted that we are continuing this work with TIFFCOM to create more opportunities for rights holders to connect with international producers and partners, develop new adaptations and bring their stories to global audiences.”
The Japan IP Market first ran in May 2026, one of the initiatives tied to Japan’s turn as Country of Honor at the Cannes Film Market. It put Japanese rights holders in the same room as industry professionals from abroad via pitches, one-on-one meetings and industry discussions. Kadokawa, Shochiku and Toei Company were among the companies taking part. The speaker lineup included Fujimura Tetsu, executive producer of “One Piece” and founder and CEO of Filosophia, Inc.
“The Japan IP Market is about creating the right conditions for business opportunities between Japanese rights holders and international companies,” said Zakharchenko. “By bringing them together in Cannes, we can help turn growing interest in Japanese content into concrete adaptation deals and acquisitions, while fostering new collaboration opportunities.”
Shiina Yasushi, executive adviser at UNIJAPAN and CEO of TIFFCOM, said the partnership with the Cannes market plays an important role for Japan’s audiovisual industry. He described the Cannes market as the biggest market attached to any film festival in the world. “Meeting the international professionals who gather there and creating together with them is the key to nurturing Japanese IP into global content,” he said.
Ikeda Kaori, managing director of TIFFCOM, said the first edition had shown how keen producers and partners worldwide are on Japanese IP. “Through the continued partnership linking Cannes in May with the Tokyo IP Market in October, we are pleased to offer more professionals the opportunity to meet Japanese rights holders directly and discover the rich diversity of Japanese IP,” she said.
The 2027 roster of companies and the rest of the program will be unveiled in the months ahead.
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Mexico’s beloved Guillermo del Toro descended on the 24thMorelia Film Festival like the rockstar he is, greeted by hordes of shrieking fans that impressed even the most jaded in the crowd.
In town to present the much-anticipated 3D Re-Release of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” he was everywhere all at once, holding a masterclass where tickets were as elusive as a seat at Cannes that went on for nearly three hours and a free-wheeling press conference that extended past its time limit.
It was his third time at the fest, 20 years after his multi-Oscar winning “Pan’s Labyrinth’ first played there and years later with his 2018 best picture Academy Award winner “The Shape of Water.”
Before the presser kicked off, Del Toro, an Honorary Doctorate recipient from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), received the Filmoteca UNAM Medal, an honor also bestowed on Alfonso Cuarón, in town to support his son Jonas Cuarón’s opening night film, “Campeón Gabacho,” which he produced.
Alongside Del Toro were festival director Daniela Michel, “Pan’s Labyrinth” producer Bertha Navarro, his then young lead Ivana Baquero and DP Guillermo Navarro, who took home the cinematography Oscar for his stunning work on the anti-fascist fable.
Reflecting on a question posed midway through the press conference about what has stayed the same and what has changed over the 20 years since “Pan’s Labyrinth,” del Toro responded with tears.
“The state of our species and society today goes beyond anything we could have imagined back then. But I recognize the same sadness and despair. It pains me deeply to see one, two, or three generations fail the next. We’re handing down a world in ruins, morally, socially and spiritually fractured, with the very fabric that once allowed us to tell fables and parables falling apart.”
Asked whether he knew beforehand if “Pan’s Labyrinth” would be well received, Del Toro recounted how his collaborations with both Navarros sustained him through all the challenges they faced.
“We embarked on an adventure that was financially horrifying but cinematically beautiful,” he said.
“You never know how a film will be received. We only found out when we screened it for the first time at Cannes. We got that famous standing ovation that lasted more than 22 minutes, and from that moment on, everything changed. It changed our lives.”
“I think ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ marked a before and after for me. In terms of creative freedom, possibilities and everything else, I’m where I am today because of that film. But none of it would have been possible without the faith of my immediate family, Bertha and Guillermo.”
Said DP Navarro: “Guillermo and I share the belief that cinematic language is storytelling through images that convey emotion and narrative. ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ is the ultimate expression of that. The camera is constantly searching, discovering and communicating.”
“It was also an incredibly difficult shoot. We had a limited budget, had to find unconventional solutions and took risks that could easily have failed. But we gambled and we won. Without a doubt, it’s my best film, and I hold that experience close to my heart. I hope new generations will continue to discover and appreciate it. And now, 20 years later, it returns. Olé!”
Producer Navarro, who also backed Del Toro’s career-launching feature debut “Cronos” and his much-lauded “The Devil’s Backbone,” said: “When he gave me the screenplay for ‘Cronos,’ I was absolutely fascinated. Talent shines, and you have to know how to recognize that light. That’s what I saw in Guillermo.”
“It’s been an incredible privilege to have made those three great films with Guillermo. I’ve produced many films throughout my life, but those three hold a much deeper significance for me. They changed my life.”
Baquero concurred: “’Pan’s Labyrinth’ undoubtedly opened doors for me, both into the genre and in my career. We’ve talked this afternoon about how much the film changed our lives, professionally and personally. For me, acting went from being a hobby – I had worked before ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ – to becoming my profession. Without that film, I might not be here today. It unquestionably marked a turning point in my career.”
Reflecting on its impact on young audiences. Del Toro noted: “There’s an urgency and a fragility and ferocity that coexist in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ And somehow, I think it’s an urgent moment to speak, for the film to speak to a new audience.”
Local politics also crept into the conference, with a journalist asking him what he would say to the young people protesting in his hometown of Guadalajara over its current issues of contaminated water, repression and the alleged kidnapping of protesters on Oct. 11.
He responded:“This morning at my masterclass, I gave young people the floor to speak about these issues. It’s terrifying that something so fundamental should have to be fought for instead of being resolved through basic humanity and responsible leadership.”
“I said it clearly: “Their voices must be heard, and I stand with them 100%. It’s unacceptable that this remains unresolved or that anyone would try to silence them. Speaking out, protesting, and demanding a solution are fundamental rights – anytime, anywhere.”
The Morelia Film Festival began on Oct. 16 and wraps Oct. 25.
