HCM CITY — Travelling to small villages in remote and mountainous regions is a hard task at the best of times. But for members of a mobile film-screening team based in HCM City, it is a full-time job.
"People usually come early to the film shows, sit on the ground to watch, and stay until late," Vu Trong Tuan, a member of the three-strong team, says.
"Their enthusiasm is our main source of encouragement."
The screenings are arranged by the State-owned Saigon Cinema Corporation for whom Tuan has been working for 35 years.
Documentary and feature films on the struggle for liberation, like Duong Ve Que Meï (Travelling Back to Native Land) and Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay Va Dem (The 17th Parallel, Days and Nights), and cartoons are the most commonly screened.
The team goes on its mission come rain or shine. Planning a trip sometimes takes time, especially when it is to a place that does not have electricity and generators are required.
Once there, however, the crew will stay for a week.
"The team has a jeep. But many times we go on motorbikes to villages surrounded by mountains and forests," Tuan says.
"Often we have to wade through knee-deep brooks that cross muddy roads.
"When it rains, the water level rises even higher and we can only continue when the water recedes.
"We can get wet when it rains but our projector, films, and other equipment must be carefully protected."
Many times the team arrives late in the afternoon. "We may not have had time for dinner. But we must prepare for the film show quickly because people are waiting," he says.
"We work forgetting our hardship because the viewers get so much enjoyment from it and because we are warmly received," Dang To Ha, the head of the team, says.
Ha has also worked for 35 years.
The films are usually screened in the yards of schools and administrative offices or meeting places for the region's various ethnic peoples.
The audience usually arrives several hours before the show's 7pm start. Often, the shows last past midnight as viewers ask for more screenings.
"Many poor ethnic people in remote areas in the Central Highlands may never see films," he says, adding it is moving when people inquire when the team will be back.
Since 2006 alone the team has shown more than 400 cartoons, feature films, and documentaries to audiences totalling over 300,000.
It has received many certificates of commendation from HCM City authorities for its efforts. — VNS