The entrance gate of Duc Thanh school in Phan Thiet, in the central province of Binh Thuan, where teacher Nguyen Tat Thanh worked in the early 20th century.

Producers have approval to make Hanh Trinh Qua Ba Be (Journey Across Three Oceans). It will be made by the Chinese Zhou Jiang Group and the Viet Nam Writers’ Association.

It is a possible sequel to Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong, which was screened six years ago.

The Vietnamese and Chinese film producers always intended to make a sequel.

It will follow milestones in a year when Nguyen Ai Quoc (the late President) left Hong Kong on his voyage to Shanghai and Xiamen.

The association wrote the film script and translated it into Chinese. A Chinese scriptwriter edited the original and it was completed after a joint effort by Vietnamese writers Ha Pham Phu and Le Ngoc Minh.

The historical figures portrayed in the film will include Chinese Song Qing Ling and Vietnamese revolutionaries such as Nguyen Luong Bang and Ho Tung Mau.

The French Vailant Cuturie, editor-in-chief of Nhan Dao (L’Humanite) Newspaper, who helped establish the French Communist Party with Nguyen Ai Quoc, also appears in the film.

Fictional characters will include a man and his young sister. The man is hired to assassinate Ho Chi Minh by the French colonialists while his sister is Ho Chi Minh’s nurse and also a secret protector.

Phu, one of the writers, said for such a multinational collaboration, a director who can work well with numerous people to produce a quality film was needed.

Phu said actor Tran Luc, who played Quoc in Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong, is unavailable for the sequel.

Luc will direct the second movie, Nhin Ra Bien Ca (Looking Towards Sea), which will be produced by the Cinematography Association Studio.

“I will try to portray Nguyen Tat Thanh (Ho Chi Minh), who looked like many normal teachers but at the time was a special teacher,” said studio director and script writer Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat, who was the script writer for Nhin Ra Bien Ca.

Nhin Ra Bien Ca is the first film to feature Thanh when he was a young teacher. The film will not have elaborate scenes as it is difficult to build backgrounds depicting the early 20th century. The story will centre on Duc Thanh school in Phan Thiet in the central province of Binh Thuan.

The two movies are expected to be screened in time to help celebrate President Ho Chi Minh’s 120th birth anniversary.

VietNamNet/VNS