HA NOI — The Vietnamese movie Canh Ba Ba (Turtle Soup), which was among the best films produced in the 48-hour Film Project in 2011, will be screened at this year's Cannes film festival's Short Film Corner.

It will be screened among the top 20 films of the international filmmaking project.

Turtle Soup, produced by Yeti group and directed by Tsering Tashi Gyalthang, won the Second Runner Up prize in the Best Film category at Filmapolooza 2011, the final of the 48-hour Film Project festival held in New Mexico, USA.

The film also received the Honourable Mention for Writing award.

The winner and the first runner-up for Best Film were, respectively, In Captivity by Jpixx Films, from Hampton Roads, and My Darling, I'm So Sorry by so36portraits from Berlin.

Turtle Soup is a heist film about two street kids who want to rescue a turtle from a restaurant. It was one of two films awarded first prize in the project in 2011. It tells a simple story with the language of cinema, winning the hearts of the four-member judging panel, including American director Phillip Noyce.

"Many think of heist as diamonds, jewellery or money but our group wanted to make a distinction. Imagine kids rescuing animals from a restaurant tank," director Gyalthang said.

HCM-based Yeti is an independent movie-making group, including foreigners working and living in Viet Nam. Turtle Soup won many other prizes in Viet Nam: best film, best cameraman, best editing, best trailer, best use of characters and best graphic.

Last year the Vietnamese film A Good Day to Die, by Young Media group was selected to be screened at Cannes in May after impressing audiences and experts at the Filmapolooza festival.

Created in the US in 2001 by Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, the 48-hour Film Project requires contestants to write, shoot, edit and complete a short film within two days. The project was launched in Viet Nam in 2010. — VNS