Heretic is in charge of global sales of “Hearing” (“Thính Giác”), the second feature film by Vietnamese director Lê Bảo, which will be screened in the international competition at the Locarno Festival.

Written and directed by Lê Bảo, “Hearing” centers on Ninh, a mechanic whose work installing decibel meters in public spaces and private homes takes on a new dimension when rising sound levels begin to register as signals about the state of his personal life. Separated from his ex-wife and young children while living with his mother, Ninh finds the distances between him and his loved ones measured in something harder to quantify than decibels.

A clip has been revealed.

The film is an expansive international co-production spanning nine territories: Singapore, Vietnam, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan. The producers are Elizabeth Wijaya, Lai Weijie and Huỳnh Yến.

Lê Bảo’s debut, “Taste,” earned him the Encounters Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and established the self-taught filmmaker as one of the most unique voices working in Vietnamese cinema. “Hearing” reunites him with cinematographer Nguyễn Vinh Phúc and production designer Lê Văn Thanh. The editing team is made up of Carlo Francisco Manatad and Dounia Sichov.

Sound is at the center of the film’s formal ambition. French sound designer and re-recording mixer Vincent Villa, whose credits include Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul,” “Diamond Island,” and “Cambodia 2099,” as well as “White Building,” “Taste,” and “Viet and Nam,” shapes the film’s sound world. The original score comes from Norwegian electronic music artist Mental Overdrive, aka Per Martinsen, whose work spans film composition, theater and multimedia art.

Heretic said: “We are delighted to be working with Lê ​​Bảo and this excellent team on ‘Hearing’. Lê Bảo has established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema, and ‘Hearing’ is a deeply moving and formally accomplished work. We are excited to present this extraordinary film to festival audiences and international partners around the world.”

Lê Bảo added: “I am happy to share with everyone my film ‘Hearing’, a place where I have kept warm memories and deep longings. ‘Hearing’ is also as tender as the songs my mother used to sing while riding her bike with me when I was a child.”

Sales consultations are handled by Ioanna Stais of Heretic.

Watch the clip here: