VietNamNet Bridge – A month of films featuring Vietnamese revolutionaries will be screened by leading television stations beginning this weekend to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the August 1945 Revolution and Independence Day (September 2).

Eye on the past: A scene from Cuoc Vuot Nguc Than Ky (A Perfect Goalbreak), a 30-part TV series featuring Vietnamese revolutionists in the French war produced by the Viet Nam Television Film Studio. — VNS File Photo

These films have been aired many times earlier, but they never fail to inspire and enrapture viewers across all ages.

Sao Thang Tam, directed by late People's Artist Tran Dac and starring Thanh Tu, tells the story of the heroic struggle waged by Vietnamese people in August 1945 for the cause of national independence.

Chung Mot Dong Song and Bai Ca Khong Quen deal with the American War.

Directed by Hong Nghi and Hieu Dan, Chung Mot Dong Song is a romantic story – two people who love each other are forced to separate because of war. The man and the woman live on the northern and southern banks of the Ben Hai River, defined as the demarcation line between the then socialist North Viet Nam US-backed South Viet Nam.

Inner strengths and unflinching courage come into play as the the couple overcome all difficulties and are eventually reunited.

Nguyen Van Thong's Bai Ca Khong Quen, starring Thuong Tin and Bich Lien, highlights the great love and commitment shared by comrades-in-arms in the southern revolutionary force who have been arrested by the Sai Gon administration in South Viet Nam.

The black and white films were produced in the period between 1959 and 1981.

They will be broadcast by Viet Nam Television, HCM City Television (HTV), Dong Nai Television and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Television networks.

"My family and I like revolutionary films like Bai Ca Khong Quen because they provide us with quality plots, interesting scenes, skilled actors, and knowledge of history," said Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa, a HCM City resident.

Hoa is one of thousands of people who wrote letters to HTV asking that they screen the revolutionary films.

"Private filmmakers currently are not making any historical movies, and HTV's film studio TFS has produced only two such works over the last three years," TFS director Nguyen Viet Hung said.

One of TFS's highlighted TV productions is Duoi Co Dai Nghia (Under the Flag of a Great Cause), a 78-part series portraying the lives of southern people, including the intelligentsia and farmers, in the 1940s.

The show focuses on true characters who decide, after a bout of soul-searching, to join the Viet Minh Front (Viet Nam League for Independence) and get involved in the August 1945 Revolution.

Directed by two experienced artists Tuong Phuong and Phuong Nam, the film won the 2005 Golden Kite for best long series, presented by the Viet Nam Cinematography Association.

The film is still being broadcast on HTV and other television stations.

"We are interested in making films on the revolutionary period, but faced many difficulties in finding funds and staff," said Hung, who believes that a historical work would be able to make waves in the local film industry now dominated by commercial productions.

Lai Van Sinh, head of the Cinematography Department, told the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) recently that they "encourage filmmakers to produce historical movies, but the work is not easy."

Sinh said that his department would give priority to both State-owned and independent filmmakers who make such films.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News