They are “Floating Lives”, “The Fate of a Songstress in Thang Long”, and “Thang Long Aspiration”.
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| A scene from “The Fate of a Songstress in Thang Long”. |
Notably, “Bi, Don’t Be Afraid”, which was believed as the top nominee for Vietnam at Oscar 2012 is an outsider, for several reasons.
Dang Xuan Hai, Chair of the Vietnam Cinema Association, a member of the council to choose Vietnamese films for the Oscar, told VietNamNet that the council convened on September 14, presided over by Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Huynh Vinh Ai.
This year, the council was convened early. Previously, the council sent announcements to film studios to call for them to send their films as nominees for the Oscar. However, only films are nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Award of Oscar 2012.
The council met and voted on the films on September 14. However, three of nine members were absent; including director Dang Nhat Minh, film critic Ngo Phuong Lan and cameraman Tran Trung Nhan and the council has to wait for their votes to make the final decision.
All three movies nominated as Vietnamese representatives at the Oscar 2012, are good in contents and qualified for the conditions set by Oscar organizers. These movies not only reflect Vietnam’s culture, tradition and history but also have beautiful scenes about different regions in Vietnam, in different periods of time.
The three movies also won the highest numbers of prizes at the Golden Kite Award 2010. “The Fate of a Songstress in Thang Long” won the Golden Kite Award for the best movie, the Best Script Writer and the Best Painter. “Thang Long Aspiration” took the Silver Kite Award, the Best Director and the Best Actor titles. “Floating Lives” held the Silver Kite Award, the Best Actress, the Best Composer and the Best Supporting Actor.
It is a pity that “Bi, Don’t Be Afraid” by Phan Dang Di, which satisfies all conditions for the Oscar, has participated in a dozen of international film festivals and won many international prizes--was not a nominee.Speaking to VietNamNet on the phone, from HCM City, director Di said he did not know about the selection of a Vietnamese film for the Oscar 2012. Moreover, the major producer is a French firm and they have the right to decide to send the film to the Oscar or not.
Di said he was not very interested in sending his film to the Oscar. Moreover, he is very busy with his second independent film project, named “Father, Son, and…”, which will be filmed next June.
In related news, around 50 senior artists will group up in Hanoi to seek solutions to save Vietnam’s cinema industry.
The government has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate the VND42 billion ($2million) scandal. A 10-day overall inspection over the cinema sector began on September 12. The two leaders of the Vietnam Cinema Agency have submitted their resignations to the Minister of Culture.
