No holds barred: The film, Ngoai Kia Co Gi (What's Out There?), directed by Nguyen Diep Thuy Anh, a student from Ha Noi, won two Golden Lotus Bud Awards following voting by the audience and the jury. — Photo courtesy the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talent

HA NOI (VNS)— A feature film about an isolated boy living in urban Ha Noi won two gold medals in the Golden Lotus Bud Awards competition which ended on Sunday in the capital city.

The film, Ngoai Kia Co Gi (What's Out There?), directed by Nguyen Diep Thuy Anh, a student from Ha Noi, won two Golden Lotus Bud Awards for best film, coming out on top in the festival jury's list and also being voted as the audience favourite.

The film tells the story of a boy living in Ha Noi in the late 1990s. His busy parents often keep him indoors, despite the boy's growing thirst for exploring the world outside and his desire to play with other children.

In the documentary film category, the 22-minute film Nguyen Linh (The Soul) directed and written by Le Thu Minh won the gold medal after audiences cast their votes. The film examines abortions among teenagers and young single women in urban areas, and discusses social problems and challenges that youth face without guidance from their family and school.

Meanwhile, the jury gave their top prize to the 20-minute documentary Chung Toi Da Cuoi (We Got Married), directed by Nguyen Ha Phuong and Mai Thi Bup. The documentary tells the story of a couple in Ha Noi who face many obstacles and difficulties in taking care of their child, who has Down syndrome.

The awards are presented annually by the We Are Filmmakers (WAFM) project, which aims to encourage young people to get involved in filmmaking. It was launched in 2009 by the Ha Noi-based Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talent (TPD).

A jury panel of veteran filmmakers and actors such as Johnny Tri Nguyen, Phan Huyen Thu, Le Khanh and Phan Dang Di selected the winners from the 12 nominees, including five films and seven documentaries.

"The nominated entries feature interesting topics and reflect the multiple perspectives of young people in modern society," said actress Khanh. "We are all surprised as among the 12 nominated directors are 11 women."

Director Thu said she highly appreciated filmmakers who show "talent, technique and profession in making films at a young age".

"I'm happy that more and more women are becoming involved with filmmaking," she said. — VNS