Raising children’s voices through filmmaking and photo exhibitions

VNF - “I never though that I could build a script to make a movie through which I could express my wishes in life”, said Ha Thi Phuong, 23 years old, Cuoi Ha commune, Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province, the scriptwriter of short film The poor child.

First time making movies

Recently, 180 children and adolescents aged 8-24 from the provinces of Hoa Binh, Bac Kan and Cao Bang gathered at the Children's Film Festival "Spread the dreams" held in Hoa Binh City.

The participants at the festival have never been involved in making movies before.

The Children's Film Festival "Spread the dreams" (Photo: Tran Ngoc)

First time holding a camera, many children feel unfamiliar and clumsy, not know how to use. Some hold the camera with one hand, some with two hands.

Ha Thi Phuong, 23, Cuoi Ha commune, Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province, said:

"I feel very confused first time writing scripts, do not know what to do and which language to be used. Also, during filming, it is difficult to contact with families for the filming background."

Quach Thi Nhu, 10 years old, the main character in the film “Nhu’s day” said:

“It took us several times to shot a scene because I’m not used to acting in front of the camera. ‘’

At the festival, 12 of total 22 best movies are shown. Each film, 3-5 minutes long, is issues very close to lives of the children.

The first heartbeat, injury prevention for children, hygienic latrines, the story of honesty, through the eyes of the children are expressed very vividly.

Children's dreams expressed through movies

Film training (Photo: ChildFund Vietnam)

Quach Thi Nhu in the film “Nhu’s day” was born into a family of four, her grandmother, mother and younger brother.

Her father died early, her mother must move to Hanoi to earn for money.

Everyday after school, she does not have the same fun as her friends but has to go home to help her grandmother and look after younger brother.

Through the film, she expressed her dream that was a warm family meal with all four members.

Ha Thi Phuong, the mother of a nine-month old baby, must arrange a time between childcare and attendance in the project.

“Before, I never dared to pursue my dream. However, after participating in the program, I gained a lot of life experience and find out the value of myself. Through the short film, I want to remind ourselves that we should do what we like and pursue our dreams.

Phuong revealed that she will be making a new film about rural roads.

‘’The infrastructure of the place where I live now is still very poor, I hope that through the film we can express our wishes to the local government.’’

Reaching children through filmmaking and photo exhibitions

Life skill training (Photo: ChildFund Vietnam)

The project “Leadership connections” funded by ChildFund Vietnam is being implemented in twelve communes of three districts of Kim Boi (Hoa Binh), Ngan Son (Bac Kan) and Quang Yen (Cao Bang).

Participating in the project, the children and adolescence are taught life skills, decision-making skills for problems related to their life.

They aslo trained to use technological equipment, filmmaking and photography.

Tran Van Tu, officer of Child Protection Program by ChildFund Vietnam, said:

“Before joining the program, the children are not usually accessible information technology. They have no cameras, camcorders, ipad or equipment to make movies. They lack a lot of life skills, lack confidence in working with adults and find hard to put forward their views.

After participating in the project, the children are confident to say what they want. Their message in the film is something that they want to send to adults."

Tu added, the the program’s desire is that all the children will always have a good life, and are equipped with skills to protect themselves.

In the future, the program will expand to other groups of children, still based on the approach of filmmaking and photo exhibitions./.

Tran Ngoc