Children of The Village

HA NOI (VNS) — The Hawaii International Film Festival will screen six Vietnamese movies during its run from July 5 to 10.

 

One selection, Bao Gio Cho Den Thang Muoi (When the Tenth Month Comes) by Dang Nhat Minh, was the first Vietnamese feature film to be shown in a US film festival. It won the jury panel's Special Prize at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 1985.

Jeanette Hereniko, the festival's founder and president of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, selected the films.

Thirty years after When the Tenth Month Comes made its debut, Hawaii's connection to Vietnamese cinema continues to thrive. The Vietnamese Government's Cinematography Department will start a tour of the US in Honolulu.

The Prince and The Pagoda Boy

The festival provides American audiences an opportunity to see Vietnamese contemporary movies, said Hereniko. She also selected Trung So (Jackpot); Khat Vong Thang Long (The Prince and Pagoda Boy); Nhung Dua Con Cua Lang (Children of The Village); Hiep Si Mu (Lost Eyes); Bi Mat Tham Do (Scandal 1) and Hao Quang Tro Lai (Scandal 2).

A scene in Lost Eyes.

The screenings will be held at the Dorisk Duke Theatre. An exhibition called Destinations for Shooting in Viet Nam will open on July 5 at at the Honolulu Museum of Art and the University of Hawaii System will hold a workshop on filmmaking co-operation between Viet Nam and the US on July 6.

A scene of Jackpot.

Jackpot is a heartfelt comedy directed by Vietnamese-American Dustin Nguyen, who is known in the US for his roles on 21 Jump Street and V.I.P.

The movie Children of the Village, directed by Nguyen Duc Viet, is a post-war story about a village in central Viet Nam being screened outside Viet Nam for the first time. Thap, a former guerrilla leader who survived a massacre, cannot forget the pain of war.

The Prince and Pagoda Boy was released in 2010 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel and was Viet Nam's 2011 entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the US Academy Awards. — VNS

A scene of Scandal 1