Young filmmaker Ngo Thi Thanh received the Viet Nam Green Documentary Film Award
first prize on Sunday.

Thanh’s film, The
Sand, tells the story of sand quarrying in the Duong River, The Vo District in
the northern province of Bac Ninh.

The US$1,000 first
prize came as a big surprise to Thanh who said she was still not entirely
satisfied with her work.

“The film still
contains some technical mistakes. Because I shot the film using a hand-held
camera, some scenes contain too much vibration,” Thanh explained.

She wrote the film’s
script while visiting her home province of Bac Ninh, inspired by the chance
meeting and subsequent discussion with her uncle who, like many other people
throughout the province, is deeply concerned about erosion in the Duong River.

The Sand, edited from
5 hours down to 15 minutes and 43 seconds, tells the story of a boatman who has
worked on the river for around 20 years.

Second and third
prizes went to Pham Thu Hang for the film Hai Ly Village and the film Our Rice
Tomorrow by Phan Thanh Thanh and Manon Aubel.

The film Where the
Waves Lap by Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, was awarded a prize voted for by audiences
before the award ceremony at the Ha Noi Goethe Institute.

Viet Nam Television
(Channel 6) awarded an additional prize to the film The Empty Space by the Letk
group.

All eight short-listed
films would be aired on VTV6, said Ta Bich Loan, head of VTV6.

The Vietdocs – Viet
Nam Green Documentary Film Award competition, launched by the Goethe Institute
in Viet Nam, aims to encourage and support an upcoming generation of Vietnamese
filmmakers in producing documentaries that reflect current issues.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News