International competition: Scenes from Toi Ba Muoi (I'm Thirty) by female director Hoang Tran Minh Duc, which will compete at the Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner.

HA NOI (VNS) — A 15-minute film by Vietnamese director Hoang Tran Minh Duc will be screened to compete at the Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner event held from May 14 to 24.

The film, titled Toi Ba Muoi (I'm Thirty), based on the script of Tran Ngoc Sang depicts the changes a woman undergoes while approaching 30 years of age. The heroine dreams of becoming a film director but she cannot realise that dream due to various reasons. At 30, she wonders whether she should take up another career. The film offers an open-end.

"The heroine is a part of myself with a desire to become a film director," female director Duc told Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper, "I am still searching myself, watching and exploring the world around me."

She further noted that she tries to make non-nationality films, which deal with international issues from cases of Vietnamese people, to attract international audience.

Duc graduated from HCM City Theatre and Cinema College. She has acted in various films such as Dua Den Mat Troi (A Race to the Sun), Goi Giac Mo Ve (Recalling Dreams) and Giot Dang (Bitter Drop).

She has made short films such as Nham (Targeting) and Noi Buon Tren Cay (A Sorrow up on the Tree) and was a jury member of 3D Short Film Festival Angouleme 2013 in France. — VNS