LookAtVietnam – For the first time, television series are on par with movies at the Golden Kite awards. This year, 24 television shows have been nominated for the prestigious awards, which are presented by the Viet Nam Cinematography Association in Ha Noi.

Looney tunes: A scene from the 2008 Golden Kite award nominee, Bong Dung Muon Khoc.

Previously, it was an unwritten rule that only celluloid films were highlighted at the awards show. This year, however, TV series are expected to break with that tradition.

While the jury is still working hard to determine the winners, people are predicting wins for two TV series - Bong Dung Muon Khoc (Want to Cry by Chance) and Gio Lang Kinh (The Wind of Kinh Village).

Bong Dung Muon Khoc

, which is produced by HCM City-based BHD Studio Company, was aiming to attract a young audience rather than cater to the jury’s tastes. However, it nonetheless has a good chance to capture the top award for a TV series.

The 36-part work featuring the life of urban youth is also expected to take home the award for best direction.

Before being submitted to the official event, Bong Dung Muon Khoc had earned fans’ recognition – particularly youngsters – during its broadcast last year on HCM City Television (HTV).

“My film is a short cut of modern life. The film serves the interests of today’s youth,” said Vu Ngoc Dang, the film’s scriptwriter and director, and one of the industry’s young and promising talents.

The other Golden Kite nominee, Gio Lang Kinh portrays the social conflicts in the daily lives of farmers living in a village in northern Viet Nam.

The show was produced by Ha Noi-based Viet Nam Film Centre (VFC).

Veteran director Nguyen Huu Phan said Gio Lang Kinh is about the ups and downs of modern rural life. “My film asks people to review themselves in different relations of love, family and career,” he said, in an interview with local media.

Old habits die hard

All of the six nominees competing for the Golden Kite top movie award involves a very formulaic, old and safe topic – love. Nguyen Vinh Son’s Trang Noi Day Gieng (Moon at the Bottom of the Well) is a story about women’s suffering and losses in love.

In the film, Hong Anh, one of the country’s few professional actors, once again showed her beauty and acting skills.

Her performance won her the Best Actress award at the 2008 International Dubai Film Festival last December.

Another of the films, Chuyen Tinh Xa Xu (Passport to Love), is a co-production between the HCM City-based Wonderboy Entertainment Company and its US partner, Infocus Media.

Thien Ngan Film Studios’ Giai Cuu Than Chet (Saving the Angel of Death) features teen love, earning more than VND16 billion (US$100,000) at the box office during its first two weeks of release last month.

Love is also highlighted in the three remaining nominees, Dep Tung Centimet (Beauty to the Last Centimetre), Cu va Chim Se Se (Owl and the Sparrow) and Huyen Thoai Bat Tu (The Legend Is Alive).

The 2008 Golden Kites will present awards for the best works in five categories: TV series, movies, documentaries, animation, and research on movies.

The ceremony will take place in early March.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News