by Hoang Ha
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Charitable act: Pham Thi Hue, who lives with HIV, was among Time magazine's Asian Heroes in 2004. She is playing the role of a prostitute also infected with HIV, in a new film by director Vinh Khuong. — File Photo |
HCM CITY — Pham Thi Hue, featured in Time magazine's issue about Asian Heroes in 2004, has just wrapped up the shooting of a new film in which she stars as an HIV-infected prostitute.
The film director Vinh Khuong said Hue was the world's first HIV-infected person to play such a role.
In the film, Hue, 31, plays the role of Thu who struggles to live with the disease and, at the same time, bring up her mentally ill younger sister. They both live in HCM City's Binh Hung Hoa Cemetery.
In the film, her sister, after being raped by a group of boys, runs across a railway track in a panic and is hit and killed by a train.
Unable to bear the loss, Thu jumps off Binh Loi Bridge with the hope that she can reunite with the souls of her mother and sister.
Wandering on the land of the earth, the ghost of Thu witnesses the life of a deaf and mute 70-year-old man, who was formerly rich.
She realises that even wealthy people are not happy if they are greedy or selfish.
"The film focuses on spiritual issues and is a new way of disseminating information about HIV/AIDS prevention that helps people live fuller lives," Khuong said.
Khuong said it took him seven years to collect funds and an additional two years to find actors for Sieu Thoat (Salvation).
"Some actors initially hesitated to act with a person with HIV," Khuong said. "However, the humane script of Sieu Thoat finally persuaded them."
"After shooting the last scene, Hue was hospitalised for a week. I am really touched by her efforts," Khuong added.
Human dignity
Once wealthy, the old man in the film becomes disconsolate after his son dies in an accident. His daughter-in-law then commits him to an institution for the insane.
But he runs away because he cannot stand the loneliness there, and eventually becomes a pauper, living in a deserted temple.
He makes a living by fishing plastic bags out of the river and sometimes finds dead bodies. The man prays for the souls of the bodies, including Thu's, whose body he finds.
A boy, orphaned and living on the streets, is also featured in the film. He threatens the old man, but the man helps him to become enlightened.
"By interweaving the lives of these three characters, the film aims to highlight the endurance of human dignity amid the confines of a cold and rigid society," Khuong said.
"We've done the movie in HD technology, and needed about US$100,000 for post-production so we can widely distribute this at home and abroad," Khuong said.
The film is expected to be released next month. Most of the revenue from the film will be given to children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
HIV crusader
Like a number of young women in the northern port town of Hai Phong, Hue was infected with HIV by her husband who was addicted to drugs.
Her son was born in 2001 was not infected with HIV.
In 2002, the 22-year-old tailor and mother of a baby son told her story to the public at a seminar on HIV/AIDS discrimination in Ha Noi.
Her business suffered and her neighbours insulted her, but Hue became the public face of Me va Vo (Mothers and Wives), an HIV/AIDS support group established in Hai Phong by Norwegian NGO Nordic Assistance to Viet Nam (NAV) and the Hai Phong People's Committee.
Hue manages the Hoa Phuong Do (Red Flamboyant) Cooperative which was established in 2003 as a meeting place where hundreds of people with HIV/AIDS come to share their hardships, get medical check-ups and other services to enable them to lead a healthy life.
The cooperative runs a garment workshop in Kien An District, generating jobs for 15 HIV-infected people. It also operates a farm raising Geoduck clams on Cat Ba Island.
Despite being busy, Hue spends some of her time taking part in contests on HIV/AIDS prevention.
In 2006, she won a first prize with "Happiness in Your Hand" organised by the Viet Nam Red Cross Society and the Viet Nam Writers Association.
She has been invited to speak at workshops on HIV/AIDS run by the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, the Ministry of Public Security and other organisations. She has also been presented with a certificate of merit by the Hai Phong People's Committee.
Khuong said Hue's true-life story had partially inspired the film and that her real-life tragedies had "harmonised with the protagonist's".
He also plans to make a documentary about Hue's devotion to the local HIV/AIDS community.
A graduate of the Film and Theatre College in 2006, director Vinh Khuong received support from the UNESCO Centre Cinema and Multimedia Company and Champa Resort to make the movie.
Khuong is also director of the films Hoang Tuong (Illusion), Xanh Mai Doi Tra (Evergreen Tea Hill), and Sat Thu (Killer), all of which have won national awards. — VNS