River Cities Network: TET

This sequence presents the south side of the Ken Te canal during a holiday period. The sequence opens with a shot  looking across a busy road, which presents the visual complexity that dominates much of this area and Ho Chi Minh City. Even during a national holiday, the streets are extremely busy with people buying daily food, visiting friends and family. These opening scenes contrast with the calm serenity of the canal. The barges on the canal have two functions they are homes and they are business places. The land based tubehouse model has been translated to the barges. On the opposite bank lies district 4. This once industrious part of the city now lies dormant awaiting its inevitable redevelopment. Towards the end of the sequence, the film focuses on some homes that overhang the canal. There is a unique relationship between the residents who live in these homes and the canal, which provides food and transport alongside its cooling affect in the heat of Saigon.