Closing of the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival: Russian film wins

Last night (November 27), at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival, the Russian film “Two women” directed by Vera Glagoleva surpassed 10 works from 9 cinemas competing for the Feature Film award at the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival, to win the Best Feature Film award.

Actress Anna Levanova represented the film crew to receive the Best Feature Film Award from Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Vuong Duy Bien. (Photo: Xuan Mai/Vietnam+)

The hope of the host country Vietnam - "Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere" after reaping many awards at international film festivals in recent times, has returned and won the Special Jury Prize for feature films right on "home ground."

Bursting into tears after receiving the award, director Nguyen Hoang Diep shared that she was so happy because this was the first time she was present to receive an award for “Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere.” Although the film has won many awards at international film festivals, director Hoang Diep herself has never been on stage due to personal reasons.

“The organizers of the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival have given me great opportunities, because I got to screen the film right in my hometown and now it has won an award. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to ‘flap our wings’ in Hanoi,” director Hoang Diep said tearfully.

The remaining awards of the Film Festival honor films that, according to the jury this year, have inspired viewers with emotions, contemplation, or exploration of life and relationships between people.

The film crew of "Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere" received the Jury's Special Award for feature films. (Photo: Xuan Mai/Vietnam+)

Accordingly, the award for Best Feature Film Director went to Iranian director Shahram Mokri for the film “Fish and Cat”; the award for Best Actress went to Anna Levanova for the Russian film “Two Women”; and the award for Best Actor went to Allen Dizon for the Philippine film “The Coffin Maker”.

The Film Festival jury also gave special recognition to the lead child role in the New Zealand film “The Weight Of The Elephants”.

In addition, the Indonesian film “Wating for Colors” won the Best Short Film award; the Best Short Film Director went to Ruslan Akun (Herding) of Kyrzyzstan; the Special Jury Prize for Best Short Film went to the Vietnamese film “What’s Out There?”.

This year's NETPAC award was given to the Philippine film “The Coffin Maker”.

Regarding this result, Director of the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival, Director of the Department of Cinema, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan said that the Film Festival has selected excellent films, rich in humanity, with high artistic value with new discoveries and research to award.

In particular, the award-winning films "score points" thanks to another criterion (not included in the regulations or any documents) of the organizing committee, which is to value new things: newly produced films, films by newly emerging filmmakers, and more importantly, films with new perspectives, even when exploiting old topics.

Best Actor: Allen Dizon (film "The Coffin Maker") of the Philippines. (Photo: Xuan Mai/Vietnam+)

Previously, the Film Festival's selection committee had a very difficult time selecting the films to compete, because there were 441 films from 39 countries and territories around the world submitted to participate, while the quality of the films was assessed as "all films are good."

Finally, 130 films from 33 countries and territories were officially selected to participate in all categories.

The feature film category at the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival includes 11 films from 10 cinematographic countries: India, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Russia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam (with two films).

Some pictures at the Film Festival:

“Two Women”:Set in Russia in the mid-19th century, on the estate of a wealthy landowner, Islaev, Mikhail Rakitin, a family friend, returns from a trip abroad but is ignored by everyone. Their only interest is in the new tutor, Alexei Belyaev. This gentle and humorous young man brings life to this strict and disciplined family.

Two women immediately fell in love with the young man: Natalia Petrovna, with whom Rakitin was hopelessly in love, and Vera, her own daughter. In a desperate attempt to maintain family life and to win Natalia Petrovna’s favor, Rakitin tried to convince her to fire the new tutor. However, Natalia Petrovna was not ready to let Belyaev go so soon…

“Flapping in mid-air,”is the story of Huyen, a young girl who needs money to have an abortion. Tung, her boyfriend, suddenly disappears after losing all their savings to cockfighting. Huyen is left with the only help from her transgender best friend named Linh.

Then she met Hoang, who had a special pleasure with pregnant women. The story became more complicated when Hoang made Huyen feel so happy that she almost forgot that there was a fetus growing inside her…

According to Vietnam+