Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat and her concerns
(Baonghean.vn) - Poetry lovers know Nguyen Thi Hong Ngát first of all as a poet who matured during the period of Anti-American Literature. She has published 8 poetry collections, and joined the Writers' Association since the 80s of the last century. She is also a successful woman in the field of cinema. From screenwriter to Director of the Film Studio, then Deputy Director of the Vietnam Cinema Department. Currently retired, she still holds the position of Permanent Deputy Secretary General of the Cinema Association, and Director of the Association's Hodafilm Studio.
Hong Ngát was born in 1950 (the year of the Tiger) in Hung Yen, but she is a daughter-in-law of Nghe An. Her husband - Doctor of Literature Phan Hong Giang - is the second son of the famous literary critic Hoai Thanh, a scholar from the Nguyen Duc family in Nghi Trung, Nghi Loc. She was originally a cheo actress, and since childhood she was fascinated by the roles of Thi Kinh, Thi Mau, and Suy Van pretending to be crazy in the cheo troupe performing at the village communal house. At the age of 15, she ran away from home to Hanoi alone, took the Bo Ho train to the Van Cong Mai Dich area to audition for actors and she achieved her dream. After graduating from the intermediate stage actor class (now the Hanoi University of Science and Technology), she joined the Central Cheo Troupe (Vietnam Cheo Theatre).
Nguyen Thi Hong Ngat
With long tours in Truong Son serving soldiers, she wrote good poems, entered the contest in the Literature and Arts newspaper and won prizes. It was also on the battlefield that she met her first love, a Hanoi boy. They lived together for 8 years, had 3 children, then something happened... He was handsome, charming, had a wife and children but still had many girls in love with him. She liked poetry and art, while he only knew about machines and technology, so they broke up. She brought her 3 children to her parents' house, the difficulties were countless. At this time, she was a "mother of three", so acting was no longer suitable, listening to the advice of Director, People's Artist Tran Bang, she switched to studying script writing.
In 1981, she was sent to the former Soviet Union to study stage writing, but her school did not have that major, so she had to switch to film writing. In addition to studying, she worked many jobs to earn money to send home to raise her children, and to forget her pain and suffering. In 1987, after graduating with honors, she returned to Vietnam and was assigned to the Vietnam Feature Film Studio as a screenwriter. A series of scripts she wrote at that time were very popular, such as: "A Time Has Lived"; "A Gambling Game"; "A Wild Sand Casting"...
In 1990, Hong Ngát met Phan Hong Giang, a man she both loved and admired. He had known her since she was in her 20s, but they were both married so they only knew each other. When she was 40, he came and shouldered the burden of the family with her, taking care of the 3 children like his own children. She began to have free time to focus on the career she was passionate about. After two years as the Director of the Company, the thorny scripts: "Ben khong chong"; "Doi cat"; "Cua roi"; "Vua duong gat" that previous directors had thrown in the trash, were put into production.
Among them, the film "Doi Cat" by director Nguyen Thanh Van won the Golden Lotus award at the 13th Film Festival, held in Vinh City, Nghe An. In 1996, the film "Canh Bac" was released, causing a stir on the internet for a while, and at the 12th Film Festival in Hue, the film "won" the Silver Lotus award and the Best Screenplay award went to her.
Later, although busy with management work, she still spent time writing scripts and poetry, "Dien Bien Chronicle", "War Diary" (4-episode TV series), "Escape" (children's film) and most recently "Looking Out to the Sea", a film about Uncle Ho. Her scripts, although "thorny", are rich in deep humanity, and have been accepted by many directors. She is also a "midwife" for the film projects "Doi Cat", "Ben Khong Chong", "Dung Dot", "Ao Lua Ha Dong".
Looking back on her life, Hong Ngát said: She was blessed by God when she was given the job she loved, and also met a man of her dreams, after so many storms? - "I am a passionate person but regret my life. If I knew my choice was wrong, why didn't I dare to throw it away and start over?" - she said.
Poet Phan Thi Thanh Nhan, her best friend, commented: "A light-hearted, cheerful Hong Ngát, who knows how to put aside what is not satisfactory to look at and live optimistically, "Canh Gambling" was Ngát's successful film, as now everyone can see that she is a successful, happy woman.
Le Lan