Japanese critics have praised a documentary by a Vietnamese art student about the bond between the founder of an early 20th century Vietnamese political movement and a Japanese intellectual.

Film maker Phan Dinh Anh Khoa began making the 45-minute documentary, Hai nuoc Nhat trong cai nhin cua Phan Boi Chau (Two Japans in Phan Boi Chau’s eyes) in 2005. It took a year to complete and in September 2008 it was screened at the Vietnam Festival in Japan.

Khoa was doing postgraduate studies at Tokyo National Arts University in Japan when he met Asaba Kazuko in Shizuoka Province which is famous for Mount Fuji and its lavish hospitality towards overseas Vietnamese students.

Kazuko told him a story which she had kept secret for a long time about her grandfather Asaba Sakitaro and his friendship with overseas Vietnamese students of the Dong Du movement.

The Dong Du (Go East) movement, which encouraged young Vietnamese to go east to Japan to study in the hope of training a new era of revolutionaries to rise against French colonial rule, was launched in 1905. It sent hundreds of Vietnamese students to Japan for training, but in 1908 it went through a crisis and its initiator, Phan Boi Chau and many overseas Vietnamese students faced deportation by the Japanese government.

Phan Boi Chau, born 1867 in the central province of Nghe An, was a pioneer of Vietnamese nationalism in the early 20th century. He spent his life seeking liberation for Vietnam from French colonization. He was captured by the French in Vietnam in 1925 and placed under house arrest in Hue city town until he died in 1940. Chau was also a famous scholar and poet, leaving behind volumes of writing.

After the troubles in 1908, Chau sought help from Sakitaro, who was the principal of the Higashi Asaba elementary school and a man widely known for his generosity and his goodwill toward those in need, although Chau had never met Sakitaro personally.

Sakitaro immediately sent Chau 1,700 yen, a large sum then, and said he would do his best to help.

The Asaba family also provided protection for the overseas Vietnamese students by letting them hide from Japanese police in large water containers on tuna fishing boats.

Deeply moved by the story, Khoa decided to make the documentary.

He searched for documents and information on Chau and the Dong Du movement and borrowed extremely rare materials written in old script from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He used his scholarship money to travel between Asaba village, Kobe, Yokohama and Vietnam to assemble what he needed and then took a year to make the whole film himself including scripting, shooting and editing.

“I was told a secret story about human bonds and wanted to share it with others, so I made a film,” Khoa said.

“Though the film is about political issues, I’m not political. I just care about humans. During the war, governments have their own agenda to protect themselves. But the affection humans feel for one another is so warm.”

“The film can help you sleep well, but if you are interested it will grip you till the last minute,” Khoa often says when introducing his film.

The film was screened and was warmly received during the Vietnam Festival in Japan last September.

In November, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan’s fourth largest newspaper, wrote that the film is a heartfelt production.

“The film is a distinguished, valuable historical work, which is different from any other in the world. History is portrayed in the most truthful way,” wrote the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s most influential newspapers.

Khoa, who went to study in Japan in 1999, was the first Vietnamese to pass the entrance exam for the Tokyo National Art University, one of the top universities in Asia.

He was also the first foreigner to win the prestigious 71st Manichi Advertising Design Award in 2004 with a project themed Chien tranh va Hoa binh (War and Peace) featuring Agent Orange victim Nguyen Duc, the surviving child of Vietnamese Siamese twins, who were separated many years ago.

The 29-year-old now owns an advertising company but he dreams of spending his life peacefully in a forest making a documentary about the life of a worm.

Source: Tuoi Tre