Thế Giới: Inside Saigon's Queer (R)evolution

“Bung Lon is multigender solidarity. Anything, anyone can be Bung Lon’d.”

Keeping true to Glamcult’s Worldwide Underground spirit, we are always on the hunt for bubbling talent that thrives at the edges of global club cultures. Having first come across the Saigon-based collective Gái Nhảy for our SANCTUM issue, we knew that the city’s creative pulse is the one to watch. Now, Gái Nhảy joined forces with a fellow Queer powerhouse Bung L0n in a Boiler Room short documentary that that feels celebratory, perceptive, and electrifying in equal parts. Thế Giới (world / cosmos in Vietnamese), plunges into Saigon’s electronic underworld, basking in the city’s nocturnal glow, sweat-slicked bodies, and untamed chaos. Dizzying yet intimate, the storyline follows two collectives and their entwined missions.

Directed by Anh Phi Trần, who is also a musical artist herself, the film not only documents the pulse of Saigon’s nightlife but also sheds light on how these spaces are being reclaimed and reimagined by new generations. Moving beyond Western-centric influences that have traditionally shaped club culture even throughout the Asian continent, young Vietnamese artists and performers are infusing their electronic sounds with local flavours, drawing on genres like Vinahouse to create something uniquely their own. From activism to fashion, we see how these collectives embrace authenticity, hedonism, and hope amidst an ever-evolving cultural landscape. With that, they warmly ground us to what is ultimately at the centre of it all – community and belonging.

Image courtesy of Boiler Room

Words by Evita Shrestha