Oscar contender: A scene from the Polish film Our Curse which will be screened in Ha Noi and HCM City. It was nominated for the Best Short Documentary at the Academy Awards 2015. – Photo nytimes.com

HA NOI (VNS) — Selected documentaries from Viet Nam and Europe will be screened at an annual documentary film festival in Ha Noi.

The festival will introduce films from Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Israel, Poland, France, Sweden, Germany and Austria, together with nine films by Vietnamese filmmakers.

Israel joins the seventh European-Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival for the first time.

"This year, three Asia-Pacific award-winning films by Vietnamese filmmakers have been selected to screen at the festival, giving film lovers unique and rewarding experiences," Pham Thi Tuyet, director of the Viet Nam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio said at a press conference.

They are Con Lai Voi Thoi Gian (Lasting with the Time), Chon Que (Homeland) and Tieng Vy Cam O My Lai (The Sound of the Violin in My Lai).

Directed by Le Hong Chuong, Lasting with the Time won the Best Documentary Film at the 51st Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 2006.

It tells the story of northern soldiers who sacrificed themselves in the south of Viet Nam during the war, leaving nothing but their diaries and letters which showed their heroism.

Homeland by Sy Chung and The Sound of the Violin in My Lai by Tran Van Thuy won golden medals at the 46th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 2001 and 1998.

The festival is a chance for cinema lovers to watch four films produced in 2014 by the Viet Nam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio.

They are Truong Sa - Viet Nam, Gieo Chu Tren May (Sowing Words on the Clouds), "Ngheo Da Chieu" O Dong Mam (Multidimensional Poverty In Dong Mam) and Giot Nuoc Giua Dai Duong (A Drop in the Ocean).

A Drop in the Ocean was made by veteran Dao Trong Khanh, and dedicated to the memory of General Vo Nguyen Giap on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of his death.

Lasting with the Time and Sound of Heimat will open the festival tonight at 7pm with presentations by directors Le Hong Chuong and Arne Birkenstock.

Sound of Heimat was screened for 70 weeks in Germany. It is about folk music from Germany and won several awards in 2013 and 2014.

Film workshops with Arne and Israeli director Shirly Berkovitz will be held during the festival.

The festival will run until June 19 in Ha Noi and from June 11 to 20 in HCM City.

Each night will see two films from Viet Nam and Europe at the film studio, 465 Hoang Hoa Tham Street in Ha Noi and Hoa Sen University, 8 Nguyen Van Trang Street, District 1, HCM City.

"Together with the European films, these films will create a vibrant dialogue between Europe and Viet Nam," said Dr Almuth Meyer-Zollitsch, director of the Goethe Institute in Viet Nam.

The festival will include a day of Southeast Asian documentaries in Ha Noi and HCM City on June 13 and 18. Young filmmakers from Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Viet Nam will present their films.

The schedule can be found at: facebook.com/Goethe.Institute.Hanoi. — VNS