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Nguyen Thi Nga, vice director of the State Records Management and Archives Department, said the documentary would be screened nationwide to commemorate the 129th birthday of President Ho and the 50th anniversary of the implementation of his will.

“We bought the copyright for the documentary, made post-production and released it following after collecting rare and precious archives about Vietnam thanks to the approval of then-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2012,” Nga said yesterday in Hanoi.

The documentary will be broadcast tonight on VTV1, and then shown on other stations, museums and historical relics relating to President Ho.

“The film was produced and broadcast for the first time in 1973 in France,” said Nga.

“It contains precious information and images that haven’t been shown in Vietnam before. It also provides an important source of archives and a perspective on President Ho seen by the French side.”

A scene from the film Ho Chi Minh: Sketching a Portrait of a Politician. Photo courtesy of the State Records Management and Archives Department

“President Ho devoted his life for national liberation, contributing in the struggle for world peace. This year marks 50 years since he passed away. His ideology, personality and morality always inspire people to follow and research him.”

Nga added the documentary would give researchers another view on President Ho and his career.

Titled "Ho Chi Minh: Sketching a Portrait of a Politician” (Ho Chi Minh: Esquisse Pour Un Portrait Politique), the 58-minute documentary was copyrighted and stored by Cine-Archives (Movie Library of the French Communist Party).

The documentary reflects the revolutionary career of President Ho since his participation in the Tours Congress in 1920 and his journey to fight for the national independence of the country. It presents archives and interviews with historical figures.

The film ends with the will of President Ho Chi Minh, calling on the Vietnamese people to maintain the revolutionary spirit and the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

The documentary was shot in Vietnam, France and Switzerland. It also mentions US President Richard Nixon, Pham Van Dong as representative of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam at the Geneva Conference, General Vo Nguyen Giap and Madame Nguyen Thi Binh.

The documentary recalls historical events such as the Tours Congress, World War II, the Indochinese War, the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, the Geneva Conference, the Tet 1968 Offensive and the Paris Accords.

Guillaume has directed other documentaries about Vietnam such as Le Monde de Khoa (The World of Khoa) reflecting how a boy from the Red River Delta thought about the war in the north of Vietnam, Les Chemins de la Victoire (Roads to Victory) and Jane Fonda au Vietnam (Jane Fonda in Vietnam).

VNS