Loading...
 

Festival Reports

Ha Noi or The Ascending Dragon

Aditya Monday November 1, 2010

In October 2010 Hanoi celebrated the thousandth anniversary of its birth. And in continuation of the city’s the week-long celebrations came the First Vietnam International Film Festival. Organised by the Vietnamese Cinema Department – with the Pusan Film Festival in Korea as its partner - it had a competition of principally Southeast Asian films with an international jury, a NETPAC award with an all-Asian jury and a competition for short and documentary films judged by a mixed jury. The six-day event was packed with screenings, gala red-carpet evenings, dinners and receptions accompanied by traditional music and dance performances, visits to historic sites in Hanoi ... and 68 films in three different venues.   Accompanying the screenings were panel discussions and a workshop on shooting 3D with Panasonic. In the open space outside the Opera, an exhibition of giant photographs celebrated both the millennium of the city, and of its cinema.    It was an experience that went beyond cinema into enticing glimpses of Vietnamese culture. Even if not impeccably organized, even if the films were not the best to be found, it still left an indelible impression, succeeding in the stated aim of the Festival to “experience historical moments in the Vietnamese culture and history.” As you drive through different parts of the city to the grand opening and closing ceremonies at the National Convention Centre, the city comes alive. And, therefore, .”

Two Vietnamese films were among the ten that competed for both the Netpac and the Festival awards. There was the historical film The Fate of a Songstress in Thang Long (i.e. “Ascending Dragon”, the earlier poetical name of Ha Noi) for which Nhat Kim Anh shared the Best Actress award with Hong Kong’s Fiona Sit (in Break-up Club) and Best Actor went to Ah Niu in the Malaysian film Puppy Love (Ice Kacang).   The other Vietnamese film in competition was The Lieutenant which harks back to the war years – but not nearly as successfully, dramatically or movingly as the classics When the Tenth Month Comes by Dang Nhat Minh, or The Wild Field by the late Hong Sen to whom a retrospective was devoted in the Festival. The NETPAC prize as well as the Best Film award went to the Singaporean filmSandcastle. This is the first feature by Boo Junfeng who has been winning accolades internationally for his short films. A multi-layered, intelligent and sensitive coming of age film that speaks to all generations, it well deserved both these awards along with a third for Best Director.     The First Vietnamese International Film Festival (27-31 October 2010) despite some inevitable glitches accompanying an event on such an ambitious scale, is a very welcome addition to the growing family of film festivals in Asia. It was most gratifying for NETPAC that at the very first film festival launched in Vietnam, the NETPAC award was instituted.

Interview

Supriya Suri's Interview with Muhiddin Muzaffar

Director Muhiddin Muzaffar (1) 2 Min

1. I entered the cinema through the theatre. I was an actor in our local theatre called Kanibadam, named after Tuhfa Fozilova. After working for five years, I decided to do a theatre director course. I graduated with honors and became a director. We successfully staged performances at international festivals.

Read More...

Featured Report

Show PHP error messages