Closing of Hanoi International Film Festival: The attraction of 'Flapping in the middle of the air'

After attending a series of international film festivals, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere was released to Vietnamese audiences at the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival. The first three screenings were very crowded, with one screening filling the entire auditorium. This is the film that the press ranked at the top of the list of “must-see films” during this year’s film festival season.

It's not hard to see that the audience came to the theater with great excitement and curiosity because they had heard about Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere for quite a while.

"Flapping wings" at home

Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere had a pretty good profile before being released to audiences in his home country. At the 2012 Hanoi International Film Festival, with this script, Nguyen Hoang Diep won the award for best student of the Haniff Writing Camp.

This year, after its completion, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere has toured a series of film festivals such as Venice, Toronto, Golden Horse... At the Venice Film Festival, Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere won the Best Film award from the Federation of European and Mediterranean Film Critics (FEDEORA), Venice International Film Critics Week. At the Bratislava International Film Festival, Slovakia, Nguyen Hoang Diep won the Best Director award.

The screening of “Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere” at the National Cinema Center on November 25 was packed with audiences.

Nguyen Hoang Diep herself is also a very notable figure. In 2009, she was the producer of the film project Bi, Dung So! for director Phan Dang Di. After winning many awards at international film festivals, the film caused a stir in Vietnam, dividing the critics in two. After that project, Diep and Di became truly famous. Until now, the industry still admires Di and Diep's ability to create projects and find funding from abroad. It can be said that they are the pioneers paving the way for independent films in Vietnam.

Hoang Diep is a very confident person, with the ability to persuade others. Actor Thanh Duy in the movie Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere once shared: "Diep is an unpredictable, scary woman, but also very emotional."

Somehow, Diep always attracts people to listen to her, including reporters. When she announced the project Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere, the press sought her out. At this year’s film festival, the film was listed as a “must-see” by reporters, because they were really curious to see what Diep would say and do.

How to “take off”?

Observing an interview with Hoang Diep, when the TV reporter said that Flap Canh was having a very favorable roadmap, the female director replied that she was very worried about how to make Flap Canh "fly" in her home country.

Being chosen as one of the two representatives of Vietnam (along with The Village Children) to compete at the 3rd Hanoi International Film Festival is an honor, but also a pressure for Flap Wings. After 3 screenings at the Film Festival, there will be a lot of articles, and the thing that this director is most concerned about is articles that reveal the content of the film, when the film has not yet been commercially released.

“This December, I will officially go to Saigon to discuss the distribution. Honestly, I am very worried because art films are very selective. Even the Korean film Pieta, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, only attracted 800,000 viewers when it returned to Vietnam, while a fairly popular Korean film had 5 million viewers... I really don't know how to attract audiences to the theaters,” said Hoang Diep.

In case of commercial release difficulties, Hoang Diep said she will consider releasing it in small theaters like the way director Nhue Giang released Lost.

It seems that completing the first film is full of difficulties, bringing the bell to the country is even more difficult, but conquering the domestic audience is the most arduous path.

According to TT&VH