Vietnamese-American film director and screenwriter Quan Lelan is making a name for himself in Tinsel Town after scooping the prestigious award for best screenplay at the Moondance International Film Festival.

Quan Lelan with the producer and actresses from the 2007 remake of Dream of the Red Chamber.

For Quan Lelan, it was a marvellous night for a moondance. Attending the Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado, USA, last September Quan Lelan was probably just happy to be doing a spot of networking.

You don’t rock up to awards ceremonies for the film industry in the US and expect to take home the coveted prize. But at the gala awards reception and ceremony, Quan Lelan’s screenplay The Princess Concubine (Ai Co Cong Chua) was named winner of the Feature Film Screenplay Award.

The Moondance International Film Festival is a premier venue for the film exhibition and and one of the leading indie film festivals in the world, dedicated to celebrating “the absolute best in the world of films and screenplays”.

Besides winning the Feature Screenplay category, The Princess Concubine was also presented with the Moondance Columbine Award, which honours work that reflects “non-violent resolutions to conflicts”. This is especially intriguing because The Princess Concubine is a bloody feudal war film set in ancient dynastic times! But the award is a recognition of the inherent humanity of the script.

Opportunity knocks

Quan now relishes the chance to use this coveted award as a springboard to greater success. “After winning Moondance I’ve received many requests from Hollywood.” Quan told Timeout.

“Hollywood executives are always looking for Moondance winners,” confirms Elizabeth English, director of the Moondance Film Festival. “The Princess Concubine is well-written, has a unique story, is very cinematic, and is, in my opinion, quite marketable to top directors and major Hollywood studios.”

English described it as the best script she had ever read. “I love this script. Being director for the festival I’m very tough in evaluating scripts and I usually don’t give complements unless it has to be really marvellous. So when I said it’s the best script I’ve ever read, that’s saying a lot.”

English believes in the potential of this script to become a major film in world-wide distribution and has offered Quan her help. In 2006, Quan Lelan made screenwriting history when he became the first ethnic Vietnamese to win a prestigious Hollywood screenplay award, the Cynosure Screenwriting Awards, with his script Curse of the Precious Consort. It was while pursuing development of this script that Quan wrote The Princess Concubine.

Epic-scale storytelling

Alex MacPhail, a screenwriting expert, claimed The Princess Concubine was a “perfect combination of story and history”. Cynthia Butler, another Hollywood industry expert, said it “has a colourful exotic setting which is very cinematic and a story that has universal appeal.”

The basic plot tells the story of a young woman who is determined to change Heavenly destiny – as her kingdom teeters on the brink of extermination, she uses her legendary beauty to reverse the course of war, even if it means sacrificing her love and even her own life.

The Princess Concubine is also a finalist at the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards in Hollywood, where it surpassed 4,298 other scripts to be in the top ten best historical film screenplays. A sampling of feedbacks from judges, who are Hollywood professionals and executives, reveals The Princess’s allure:

“The script is absolutely loaded with memorable, epic-scale storytelling. We get a real sense for the history of the story on a massive scope.” “You have been very successful in producing a well-written, absorbing tale, sweeping in scope and high in drama. I was absorbed from moment one. Your dramatic style is what sets this script apart.

This is a wonderful script which demonstrates your immense talent as a writer.” “You have written an absorbing sweeping historical epic that has potential for big box office!”

All of this success is a gateway for Quan, who will now benefit from greater interest in Hollywood. The Princess Concubine now stands a greater chance of being picked up by a major studio and being shown around the world.

Focus like a laser beam

It seems Quan Lelan, who was the first Vietnamese-American graduate from the USC Graduate School of Cinema-Television, has been preparing for this all his life. He forged links between the American and Vietnamese film industries. He was a major part of American productions filming in Vietnam (Three Seasons, The Quiet American). The Vietnam Cinema Bureau has pledged to support his projects.

Quan’s colleagues say when he sets his mind on something, he focuses like a laser beam until he achieves his goal. Hopefully such dedication will lead to the realisation of the first Vietnamese historical epic film.

VietNamNet/Time-out