Dixie State University has formed an international partnership in film studies and production with Duy Tan University in Vietnam.
DSU’s Dr. Jeffrey Jarvis, dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, traveled to DTU in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week to sign a memorandum of understanding.
Duy Tan, under the direction of project manager Raphael Didierjean, has made incredible strides in computer-generated animation in recreating Vietnam air battles on film with the latest 3-D technology. DTU will be organizing training courses on CGA for DSU officials and will work with DSU in showing DocUtah films in Vietnam. DSU, in return, plans to organize training for DTU in film studio engineering, building studios, post-production processing, script writing, and more.
“We are excited about the next steps in our film program, including the bachelor’s degree in digital film and the expansion of DocUtah and its international reach,” said DSU’s Dr. Jeffrey Jarvis, dean of the school of visual and performing arts. “Duy Tan University shares our interest in documentary film and will be a strong partner in mutual collaboration.”
The partnership emerged thanks to Vietnam veteran and DSU patron Dave Hansen, who helped connect DSU officials with DTU president and provost Dr. Le Nguyen Bao. In 2014, the film “Soldiers’ Sanctuary” screened at DocUtah and featured Hansen and his involvement with a group called PeaceTrees Vietnam, which is devoted to reconciling American and Vietnamese veterans. The group unites veterans from both sides to dispose of explosive remnants that are still on former Vietnam battlefields and plant trees in their place.
Hansen visits Vietnam frequently, bringing other Vietnam vets with him to join in the reconciliation effort. Since the release of “Soldiers’ Sanctuary,” he has been a liaison between DSU and DTU.
At the signing ceremony, Le also thanked Hansen and spoke of the benefits that will come from such a partnership.
“DSU is strong in arts and social sciences, [and] DTU, since inception, has made humanities the cornerstone of its educational philosophy,” Le said. “Such international collaborations in film production and other fields will significantly improve the standard of education at DTU in the age of international integration.”
