On the evening of March 22, the 14th Francophone Film Festival in Vietnam opened at the Vietnam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio in Hanoi and DCINE Ben Thanh Theater in Ho Chi Minh City. This is an event organized by the Asia Pacific Regional Office of the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the Embassies of Canada, France, and Switzerland along with the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation in Vietnam.

Attending the first film screening of the 14th Francophone Film Festival was the director of the movie "Funny Swindlers" Yolande Moreau, representatives of the International Francophone Organization in Vietnam, and representatives of the Embassies of Canada, France, Switzerland, and the Walloon-Bruxelles Delegation.

Pierre du Ville - Chief Representative of the Walloon-Bruxelles Delegation to Vietnam (left) at the opening ceremony of the 14th Francophone Film Festival in Hanoi. (Photo: Ngan Hanh)

At the opening ceremony, Pierre du Ville, Chief Representative of the Walloon-Bruxelles Delegation in Vietnam, welcomed Vietnamese audiences to enjoy French films.

With the theme “The diversity and vitality of the Francophone Community present all over the world,” this is the highlight for the program organizers to select the best works to screen at this year's Francophone Film Festival in Vietnam.

The festival's highlight is Glorious Ashes (Vietnam) by Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen. The story revolves around three women living in the same small village in the Mekong region.

The film beat 27 other film projects globally to win the US$15,000 prize in the Asian Project Market category at the 2017 Busan Awards. It also won SG$250,000 from the Singapore Film Commission's Inaugural Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant and received support from Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua. In 2022, the film won the Montgolfière d'or or the Golden Hot Air Balloon Award at the Nantes Festival of Three Continents.

The film also bagged Best Feature Film and Best Director for Bui Thac Chuyen at the Golden Dragon 2023, the Vietnam Cinema Association's annual awards. It also represented Vietnam in the Best International Feature Film category preliminary round at the 2024 Oscars.

The film festival is open to the public. (Source: OIF)

La Fiancée du poète (The Poet's Fiancée), a comedy from Wallonia-Brussels about Mireille Stockaert, a lonely and broken woman, is also a showpiece. In love with painting and poetry, she is content to work in the cafeteria of the Beaux-Arts in Namur. However, her life forever changes when she decides to live in the large family house she had inherited. Not having the means to maintain it, she decides to take in three lodgers- three men who will upset her routine.

Viking (Canada), directed by Stéphane Lafleur, is the story of a behavioral research team that observes and attempts to replicate the experiences of the first manned mission to Mars.

The French film Bienvenue Chez Les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks) is about a French public servant from Provence who is banished to the far North. Strongly prejudiced against this cold and inhospitable place, he leaves his family behind to relocate temporarily there, with the firm intent to quickly come back.

A large audience is excited about the 14th Francophone Film Festival in Vietnam. (Photo: Ngan Hanh)

The Path of Excellence (Switzerland) follows Sophie, a brilliant student. Encouraged by her maths teacher, she leaves the family farm to attend a science preparatory class. Between new encounters, successes, and failures, and in the face of fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream of joining the Polytechnique represents more than rivalry but a true challenge of social climbing.

White Building (Cambodia) is a drama film directed by Kavich Neang. It was selected as the Cambodian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. The film was also nominated for the New Talent Award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2021. In the plot, 20-year-old Samnang faces the demolition of his lifelong home in Phnom Penh and the pressures from family, friends, and neighbors which arise and intersect at this moment of sudden change.

Tran Thi Thu Ha, representative of the Francophone International Organization for Asia-Pacific (REPAP-OIF), shared the purpose of OIF and the Asia-Pacific Regional Office is to spread French to more people in Vietnam.

"The film festival is also a way to promote different cultures in the French-speaking community, including through films," Tran Thi Thu Ha emphasized.

In addition to the Francophone Film Festival, OIF also organizes many diverse activities related to Francophone education at bilingual universities, middle schools, high schools, and international schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City or cultural and sports activities such as the Francophone Run on March 24 in Hanoi.

Iran Film Week 2024 To Begin In Hanoi Iran Film Week 2024, which takes place from January 10 – 14 at the National Cinema Center, is an event commemorating 50 years of diplomatic ...

Viet Film “A Fragile Flower” Released In Three Countries The movie “A Fragile Flower” directed by Mai Thu Huyen will be released simultaneously in Vietnam, the US, and India in March.

Oscar-Winning Film Editor Becomes Juror at Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival A distinguished Hollywood film editor will take part in the first-ever Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival as a juror for the First or ...