LookAtVietnam – Several Vietnamese films with interesting themes and content are being screened outside the country by foreign distributors.

The film runs for a week at cinemas in California, Texas and Georgia starting this weekend.

The movie was produced last year by Victor Vu, a Vietnamese-American filmmaker, in co-operation with Viet Nam’s InFocus Media. It has scenes shot in Viet Nam and the US.

Award-winning film Trang Noi Day Gieng (Moon at the Bottom of the Well) by film director Nguyen Vinh Son was screened at several prestigious universities in the US last April.

The screening of the film, which aimed to introduce Viet Nam’s diverse culture to the US, has received a warm welcome from audiences.

Moon at the Bottom of the Well

and Choi Voi (Adrift) will be screened at this month’s Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada.

Moon at the Bottom of the Well

won the Silver Kite award for Best Feature at the Viet Nam Cinematography Association’s 2008 Golden Kite Awards.

The film tells the story of Hanh, a high school teacher in Hue city, who leads a seemingly happy married life with her husband Phuong, her school’s principal. But troubles begin when Hanh is unable to bear children.

To give her husband the child he wants, Hanh arranges for him to have a baby with another woman. But when the secret gets out, Phuong’s career is destroyed.

To protect him, Hanh sacrifices her dignity by allowing their marriage to dissolve, only to find that her husband had been scheming the entire time. Lost and alone, Hanh finds solace in the world of deities and spirits.

Hong Anh, who plays the role of Hanh, won the Best Actress award in the Asian category at the Dubai International Film Festival last year.

Choi Voi

(Adrift), featuring Vietnamese-American actor Johny Tri Nguyen and French-Vietnamese actress Pham Linh Dan, will be distributed in Canada, according to sources from the Viet Nam Feature Film Studio, which made the film.

An agreement for the film distribution will be signed with a foreign company after the Vancouver Festival, sources said.

Dong Mau Anh Hung

(The Rebel) produced by Chanh Phuong Film Co with the record budget of US$1.5 million was bought for distribution in English-speaking countries by Weinstein Company last year.

“Films made by Asian countries are having an increasing number of audiences in the US,” said Victor Vu, who made Passport to Love.

“The opportunities for Vietnamese films to reach the US audiences are great,” Vu said.

“Vietnamese films’ entry into international festivals has stirred interest among foreign distributors,” said director Son.

“However the main obstacle for Vietnamese films in gaining international viewers remains the poor technical quality of movies made here,” Son said.

‘”Many foreign distributors say Vietnamese films are interesting but inferior in sound and image quality,” he said.

According to Son, several Vietnamese films made recently had soundtracks being re-engineered in foreign countries.

“Viet Nam also lacks personnel having a thorough knowledge about laws on film distribution in foreign countries,” he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News