The first International Documentary Film Week was held in Hanoi recently. Vietnam News interviews Le Hong Chuong, director of the Vietnam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio, which hosted the event.

Vietnam News interviews Le Hong Chuong, director of the Vietnam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio, which hosted the event.

Q: As a member of the organising board, were you happy with the first International Documentary Film Week?

A: The cultural characteristics of different countries was clearly featured in the documentaries. An Italian director told me he recognised the community culture of Vietnamese people when he walked in the street and saw the same attitudes reflected in Vietnamese documentaries.

The event went beyond all our expectations. The audience was diverse and full of young people. This made foreign participants happy because documentaries are generally aimed at older audiences.

Initially, we were worried about numbers. We expected 40 to 100 people at the first screening, but 300 showed up. Seats were also full at all the other screenings.

Q: Was the workshop successful?

A: The week ended with a workshop Documentary Films: a Companion in Life at which Vietnamese and European film-makers related their experience. It was well attended by Vietnamese and foreign filmmakers, journalists and other interested parties.

We planned to run the workshop for an hour, but Vietnamese filmmakers and their foreign colleagues discussed contemporary documentary making for much longer.

Q: What is the role of the Viet Nam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio?

A: The studio is a leading documentary maker and has won many prizes at home and abroad. Our main mission is to attract Vietnamese audiences, but we are determined to bring our films to the world and we discussed this at length in the workshops.

We have small budgets and some backing from international organisations and this allows us to hold training courses for Vietnamese filmmakers.

Q: What do we lack?

A: We have to tell our stories with an international voice so the world can understand. One Vietnamese documentary shown at the Film Week was Old Extract by director Dao Thanh Tung. It is a story of an operatic ensemble who brings a ray of light to townsfolk living an otherwise drab existence. They are kept alive by their passion for tuong (classical opera).

Vietnamese audiences can understand tuong when they see a tuong mask but filmmakers have to explain such things to foreign audiences.

Q: Are you still co-operating with foreign directors?

A: Foreign directors are still co-operating with us and we help them find places to shoot scenes for their movies. But establishing co-production is important. The Viet Nam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio was established 56 years ago and we need to introduce Vietnamese films to the world.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News