(VNF) - Vietnamese director Dang Nhat Minh is one of three global filmmakers to be honoured at the 36^th Amiens International Film Festival (FIFAM), taking place from November 11^th to 19^th in Amiens, France.

A scene from Thuong nho dong que (Nostalgia for The Countryside) by director Dang Nhat Minh. (Source: Internet)

Director Minh is perhaps the most famous Vietnamese artist to take the global stage since the country’s reunification in 1975. He is also the first Vietnamese director to receive a retrospective programme at the international film festival for his filmography, which includes Bao gio cho den thang muoi (When the Tenth Month Comes - 1984); Tro ve (The return - 1994); Mua oi (Season of Guavas - 2000) and Dung chay (Don’t burn - 2009).

“Minh is the only Vietnamese contemporary film director deserving of this sort of international film festival recognition,” said Vietnamese-French director Le Lam, who suggested the festival organisers choose Minh alongside Frenchman Louis Malle and American Douglas Trumbull.

“His eight films are very Vietnamese, and these characteristics will help foreign audiences get to know the Vietnamese people and country. Of course, the films also showcase Minh’s world class artistry and creativity”.

Actress Le Van in “When the Tenth Month Comes”. (Source: Internet)

Amongst Minh’s films, “When the tenth month comes” is especially famous, widely known not only in Vietnam but also through Asia, where he has become the symbol for the art of Vietnamese cinema.

Set in a small village in the north of Vietnam, the movie is a tale of awakening and traces the love triangle between a 17-year-old boy, his lonely and naive sister-in-law with whom he works closely in the fields, and a stylish vivacious expatriate who has just returned from the city and is curious about life in the village where she spent her childhood.

The recipient of numerous awards such as a special jury prize at the Hawaii International Film Festival 1985 and the Golden Lotus at the seventh Vietnam National Film Festival, When the tenth month comes was named “one of the greatest Asian films of all times” by CNN in 2008.

His latest movie, “Don’t Burn”, was Vietnam’s first official nomination at the US Academy Award. The 100-minute film is based on a diary by martyr Dang Thuy Tram, who was a volunteer serving as a doctor in the National Liberation Front battlefield hospital in the central province of Quang Ngai.

“Don’t Burn” won the Audience Award at the 19^th Fukuoka International Film Festival in Japan and six Golden Kite awards by the Vietnam Cinematography Association.

Director Dang Nhat Minh. (Source: The Center for Southeast Asian Studies)

Dang Nhat Minh was born in the old central Vietnamese royal capital city of Hue in 1938. His father was a noted physician, Dang Van Ngu, who became one of Viet Nam’s leading authorities on malaria. As a student he became fluent in both French and Russian. He honed his craft on his own while translating Russian for the first Vietnamese film directors studying in the Soviet Union.

Back in Vietnam, his first works were documentaries on such subjects as agricultural engineering. However, he soon progressed to motion pictures, such as City under the Fist about the devastation caused by the 1979 Chinese invasion of Vietnam’s northern border.

The theme of ordinary people facing daily hardships in times of war and post-war adversity have coursed throughout his work ever since.

Minh was recently honoured by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is the only Vietnamese citizen to win the Nikkei Asia Prize./.

( Compiled by VNF )