HA NOI The Vietnamese film Dung Dot (Don t Burn) triumphed over 23 films to win the Audience Award at the on-going Fukuoka International Film Festival in Japan.
Directed by Dang Nhat Minh, the movie is based on the diary of war martyr Dang Thuy Tram. Tram, a young female doctor from Ha Noi, volunteered to go to the battlefield during the American War, where she was put in charge of a military clinic in Duc Pho District in the central province of Quang Ngai.
A bestseller in Viet Nam in 2005, the diary then was translated into Japanese in 2006 and continued to move readers in the "land of the rising sun."
At each festival showing of the film the theatre was packed full with audiences. Viewers were won over by scenes reflecting the profound humanity of the film s modest and courageous heroine, played by young actress Minh Huong.
Don t Burn was joined by another Vietnamese movie at the 10-day festival, Huyen Thoai Bat Tu (Legend Alive), by director Luu Huynh.
The festival kicked off in the northern Japanese city of Fukuoka on September 18. Films from sixteen Asian countries and territories were submitted.
Last year, the movie Ao Lua Ha Dong (The White Silk Dress) by director Luu Huynh made it to the festival s top ten list.
All festival entries will be archived at the Fukuoka Library, which has the capacity to preserve films for up to 400 years.
Currently, about 30 Vietnamese films are kept at the library, including Living in Fear by director Bui Thac Chuyen and Pao s Story by director Ngo Quang Hai.
Don t Burn will join the film Choi Voi (Adrift) by director Bui Thac Chuyen to vie for a prize at the on-going Bangkok International Film Festival, which takes place in Bangkok from September 24 to 30. VNS