Western Sydney based filmmakers Maria Tran and Trung Ly have scored an Australian theatrical release for their US$1 million bugdet Vietnamese action flick Tracer (Truy Sat).
The film, from Korean production company CJ Entertainment and directed by Cuon Ngo, will have its Australian premiere on May 6 at Event Cinemas Liverpool.
It will then be screened in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide from the 5 May through distribution company Dreamwest Pictures.
This follows a 100 screen release across Vietnam for the high-octane martial arts action film.
Tran, whose Australian acting credits include My Place, The Story of Us and the upcoming Love Child season 3” was brought on board to fulfill the role Phuong Lua as well a supporting the production team in understanding the process of "fight story".
Maria Tran as Phuong Lua in Tracer (Truy Sat).
Tran and Trung have been running Dong Thanh Martial Arts Centre, based in Chipping Norton for the past 2 years.
They have been running outreach screen acting workshops and develop most of the stunning fight scenes for the film set across Vietnam.
Trung has also worked on two movies in China, the first being a Hollywood movie produced by Roger Corman called Fist of the Dragon and also ABC TV’s Maximum Chopppage.
Tran said it was a it was a fantastic experience working on Tracer.
"I was able to assist in fight choreography, the producing team and take up a villainous character that had some epic fight scenes with motorbikes and weaponry!" she said.
Maria Tran with Truong Ngoc Anh.
Tracer is about a policewoman, An who is given an undercover assignment to take down the notorious Wolf gang.
Things get personal when An accidentally kills one of the gang members and now her own family is at threat.
Tracer is executive produced and starred by Vietnam’s leading actress Truong Ngoc Anh and is distributed by CJ Entertainment.
Ross W. Clarkson is DoP on the film with Antony Nguyen (Mad Max: Fury road) as VFX supervisor.
Trung said it was a great feeling to represent the hybrid culture of Aussie-bred Vietnamese and showcase the potential talent that is in Australia – especially from our Western Sydney region.
“There is very little knowledge and understanding of what action directing is, and in Australia, it is almost unheard of," he said.
"Action is more than a kick and a punch, there is motivations behind every movement and this has to interplay with the right angles, cuts and continuity."