Film screening ViCo PizzaMovie: «Chef»

   A celebrated Los Angeles chef loses everything after one brutal review and a meltdown that goes viral, then starts again from a rusty truck selling cubanos. The screening comes with pizza served while you watch and an open discussion once the credits roll — a small film night in central Saigon.

   «Chef» premiered at SXSW in 2014. Jon Favreau wrote, produced and directed it, and plays the lead, Carl Casper. Around him are Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Amy Sedaris, Emjay Anthony and Dustin Hoffman, with Robert Downey Jr. in a cameo. The film runs 114 minutes.

   It is more than a feel-good food story. The film asks a very current question: what happens when the public image you have built no longer fits the person inside it, and how do you rebuild a reputation once the internet has already decided who you are? Watch for the way Carl uses social media not as a corporate billboard but as a window into an unvarnished passion.

   Afterwards there is an open discussion with the other guests — share what you thought, hear what other people took from it. The evening belongs to the PizzaMovie strand run by the ViCo community, with Vegan Travel Asia and Saigoneer as partners.

   It fits people working in branding, media and the creative trades, and equally anyone who simply wants a good film and easy company. The bar is small, places are limited, and you register through a form in advance rather than paying at the door.

   There are two rates: ViCo members pay 80,000 ₫ and everyone else 140,000 ₫ — the difference is membership, not the seat you get.

   The film is American and its original language is English; the organisers have announced nothing about subtitles, and the whole event is published in English.

   Register early, arrive on time and give a Thursday evening to a film, a pizza and a proper conversation.