The private Cuu Long Film Studio is working on a historical film about a national hero who led village militia to fight the French colonisers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

The 20-episode TV series Anh Hung Nguyen Trung Truc (Hero Nguyen Trung Truc) has been written by Duong Linh and is being directed by Phan Hoang.

After reading Linh's draft of a book on Truc, Hoang was very excited and asked him to expand it into a script for a TV series.

Nguyen Trung Truc was born in 1839 in the central province of Binh Dinh. When the French invaded the central region in the 1850s, he moved with his family to the south and joined the militia.

He rose to become a partisan leader and assisted Truong Dinh, a Nguyen dynasty mandarin who led a guerrilla army in the south, in fighting the French army.

His most renowned water-borne attack resulted in the torching of the L'Esperance, a ship carrying rice for the French army, in the Nhat Tao Canal (now in Kien Giang Province) in 1861.

In 1868 the French took his mother hostage to capture Truc, and executed him in Rach Gia Province (now Kien Giang Province).

Hoang, who is also the director of Cuu Long Film Studio, said the burning of the L'Esperance was the "highlight" of the film.

He and artist Tran Xuan Chuc, who was entrusted with building a replica of the ship, contacted Paris Museum to ask for an image of the vessel.

Chuc said it took him nine months to build a model of the L'Esperance.

It cost VND1.5 billion (US$71,500) of which VND1 billion was provided by Kien Giang Province where the most of the film is being shot.

Another challenge for the filmmakers was finding the actor to play Truc.

After auditioning many actors, Hoang chose model and actor Ly Anh Tuan who is well-known for his negative characters in soaps like Co Gai Xau Xi (Vietnamese version of American TV series Ugly Betty) and Co Nang Toc Roi (A Women with Unkempt Hair).

Tuan had a "strong and heroic" spirit, Hoang said.

The film also features Cao Minh Dat, Mai Thanh, La Thien Cam, and Nguyen Thao.

Hero Nguyen Trung Truc will be shown on HCM City Television at the beginning of next year and later on Viet Nam Television and several provincial stations.

Hoang hoped the film would encourage youngsters to learn more about the history of Viet Nam and the patriotism of its people.

VNS