A scene of Bains Publics. The film from Wallonie Bruxeles will open the 11th European –Vietnam Documentary Festival. — Photo courtesy of Wallonie Bruxeles

The 11th film festival is held by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and Vietnam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio with films from Austria, Wallonie-Bruxelles (the French community in Belgium), France, Italy, Germany, Israel, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the UK and Vietnam. 

"The festival has shown that this cultural exchange and co-operation among European countries and Vietnam has become closer and well developed," said Nguyen Quang Tuan, the studio's director. 

"These films at the festival honestly and vividly reflect life in various countries. Although each documentary has its own view and story to tell, they contribute to bringing different cultures across the world together," he said. 

This year, the festival will show 22 documentaries, many of which have won awards. It will be held from October 1 to 10 in Hanoi and HCM City. 

At the opening, the audience saw two documentaries entitled Bains Publics and Hành Trình Về Phía Bình Minh (Journey to The Sunrise). 

Directed by Nguyen Duc Phuong, the 45-minute Hành Trình Về Phía Bình Minh documentary is about young Vietnamese people who have devoted their youth to protect the Spratly and Paracel islands. 

The 2018 Bains Publics was directed by Kita Bauchet and was shot exclusively within the confines of a pool and its surroundings, where sensations, impressions and situations show a seemingly egalitarian vision in appearance but will reveal itself to be much more complex.  

It won the Special Award at Clermont Ferrand and International French Film Festival in 2019. 

Other documentaries take up social issues such as how a family struggles with the challenge that one of their children has cerebral palsy or a discussion that has been worrying political decision-makers and the general public in Europe for years, the dwindling of privacy in the emerging age of digital capitalism. 

A documentary by Czech director Diana Cam Van Nguyen will be a highlight of the festival. 

The animation entitled The Little One is about a Vietnamese girl named Rồng growing up in a small European town. She struggles with the fact that she is different in the town and in the family.

It won Best Animated Short in 2017 at the Pilsen International Animation Film Festival and Best Animated Film at Feminist Border Arts Film Festival 2018 in New Mexico, US. 

Other award-winning films to be shown include the German Democracy; Italian Nimble Fingers; British The Secret World of Lego; Israeli Once Upon A Boy; French The Goddesses of Food; Swiss The Step Way Up; Spanish The Painting and Austrian Backstage Vienna State Opera.

Each night between October 1 and October 10 in Hanoi and HCM City, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy one Vietnamese documentary film followed by a European film.

Two films by independent Vietnamese directors Doan Hong Le and Nguyen Huong Na will be shown at 5pm on October 3. The shows will have English subtitles.

The festival is held annually in June. But this year, it takes place in October due to COVID-19.  VNS

European – Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival to be held in October

The 11th European – Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival will take place in Hanoi at the Vietnam National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio in Hanoi and the Hoa Sen University in Ho Chi Minh City, from October 1-11.