Vietnamese films to be screened at Cannes Film Festival 2017

Three Vietnamese films will be screened at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, to be held from May 17 to 28.

A scene in the film 'Vi' (Taste)

“Culi Khong Bao Gio Khoc” (Sloth Monkey Never Cries) and “Vi” (Taste) will compete in the category of L’Atelier, which targets and provides production and funding opportunities for young, emerging filmmakers.

Both films reflect trends of the last decade in the country’s cinema industry. “Culi Khong Bao Gio Khoc” is the first feature project directed by 31-year-old Pham Ngoc Lan of Hanoi, one of the city’s young talents in film.

The story is about a Vietnamese woman who spends a long trip alone around Europe, made in order to take the dead body of her husband, who was a security officer at a zoo, back to her homeland.

The film competed in the Asian Project Market category at the 21st Busan International Film Festival last year.

“Vi” was directed by 27-year-old Le Bao of Ho Chi Minh City.

The film depicts the daily life of a Nigerian football player in Ho Chi Minh City, who is jobless and faces obstacles in making a living.

It was presented as the Project with the Most Potential in the Southeast Asian Film Lab category at the Singapore Film Festival 2016.

Female director Nguyen Phuong Anh’s “Vo Ba” (The Third Wife) was also selected to be screened at the festival.

The film depicts the tragedy of a rural woman living in a small village in northern Vietnam in the late 19th century. She faces internal conflicts as her parents want her to marry an older man.

The film features People’s Artist Nhu Quynh and Vietnamese-French actress Tran Nu Yen Khe.

This year, Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar has been selected as president of the jury for the Cannes festival.

(Source: NDO)