The first episode of “Ky Su Ben Dong Mississippi” (Chronicle of the Mississippi River), a 60-episode documentary series about the lives of American people along the world’s third-longest river, was aired on HTV7 channel on May 13.

Cameraman Tran Duc Long (standing) working on the bank of the Mississippi River.

The film crew of the HCM City Television (HTV) went through ten states and 21 cities in the US, totalling 20,000 square kilometres, by various means of transport, to shoot 4,800 minutes of film in 45 days in March and April 2009.

Vietnamese cameramen made a 45-day trip to discover the 300-year-old culture of the US along the banks of this river. They also filmed the lives of Vietnamese-American fishermen on the river.

At Versalle village in New Orleans, Louisiana, there is a market of Vietnamese-Americans open from 5-7 am every Saturday. This is a Vietnamese-style flea market, to which people bring vegetables and fruits from their gardens. The market is crowded and without careful observation, one might think that this was a market in Vietnam.

Versalle village was known through the Katrina typhoon. Many houses damaged by the typhoon have still not been rebuilt.

The flea market of Vietnamese American in Versalle village.

The Mississippi basin is the most populous agricultural area in the US, with vast grain fields. The river’s lower section is the US’ largest rice basket. The beauty of grain fields in Mississippi were recorded in the Vietnamese movie.

The documentary series also introduces famous landscapes along the river, important states and cities which are centres of economics, culture, technology and finance of the US to Vietnamese audiences.

The film is broadcast at 9.10 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday on HTV7.

The series is a joint product between the TFS and Blue Ocean, with investment capital up to dozens of billion dong.

PV