VietNamNet Bridge – Delivering the message “don’t discriminate AIDS carriers”, a group of students from the central city of Da Nang have won the highest prize of the Asian Student Film Festival in Japan for “Lan, Don’t Cry.”
Teacher Pham Thi Phong, who led the Vietnamese delegation to the festival, said that the Excellent Award is the highest prize of the festival. The Vietnamese movie passed 116 entries from 10 Asian countries to win the award.

This 3-minute film was produced by two seventh grade students Phan Thi Thuy Dung, Trinh Lan Phuong and Vo Tuan Quang, an eight grade student of the Hai Chau junior secondary school in Da Nang. They shot the film by a mini-camera, under the instruction of teacher Phong.

The film depicts the break, when Quang accidentally sees Lan’s diary. He curiously reads it and knows that Lan’s parents were dead by AIDS. Quang is afraid and tell other classmates about Lan’s parents. Classmates then keep away from Lan. Lan runs away from the class. The teacher knews the case and she explains to the class about HIV/AIDS.

After the class, classmates go out to seek Lan. Seeing Lan sitting on the riverbank, crying and attempting suicide, Quang apologizes. Lan returns to the class because her classmates have understood about AIDS.

The group spent two months to write the script and shoot the movie.

Last year, the Tay Son Junior Secondary School also won a special prize at the International Film Festival for Asian Children in Japan for Ho Thi Hieu Hien’s “Thuy’s Class.”

Thanh Lan