VietNamNet Bridge – Four Vietnamese documentaries will be aired on Discovery channel in the Asia-Pacific region as of May 5 2011. Producer Ha Thuc Van, who has involved in the “The First Time Filmmakers” project from the beginning, talked with The Thao & Van Hoa about it.

A scene from “1000-year-old City” by Nguyen Manh Ha

First step of locally-made discovery documentaries

 

The documentary series includes “Thanh pho 1.000 tuoi” (1000-year-old City), directed by Nguyen Manh Ha, “Nhung chien binh chong tac duong” (Warriors Combat Traffic Jam) by Phan Duy Linh, “Rap chieu phim di dong” (Mobile Cinema) by Nguyen Manh Cuong, and “Le cai tang” (Exhumation) by Dao Thanh Tung.

Through the films, audience all around the world will have a chance to learn about architecture, spirituality, and cultural heritage of Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, which has been known for its ancient houses and European-style public squares and tree-lined boulevards and others.

Each film has its regular slot of 30 minutes starting at 8pm on Thursday (local time), and playing back at 7am and 1pm on Friday every week. 

The four documentaries won The First Time Filmmakers project, funded by the Ford Foundation, which started in Vietnam in 2009 after nine years of operation in the Asia-Pacific region.

This project was kicked off in 2009. Why until now four documentaries are broadcast?

I don’t have the right to set the time of broadcast. As a member of the project, I and film crews want to finish it early. There are many reasons for the sluggishness. For example, Phan Y Ly’s “Thanh Pho Dam Me” (City of Passion) was firstly filmed by under standard cameras, so it was shot again. A director could not arrange his schedule to join his film crew to finish their documentary in Singapore; that was also a reason.

 

According to the local media, this project was in a lot of troubles. At the last minute, Phan Y Ly’s “City of Passion” was rejected. What do you say about it?

 

As Mr. Vikram Channa, Vice Chair in charge of production and development of Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, making movie means difficulties.

 

It is a pity that Phan Y Ly’s documentary is not aired, but as a project manager who has worked with many foreign TV channels like BBC, Discovery, etc. I understand that it is important to respect the time schedule set by the foreign partners.

 

Joining the game with foreign partners, we must accept the rules, the difference and fairness because it is a fact that sometimes foreign partners don’t understand well about Vietnamese culture. People who cannot work in team can’t cooperate with foreigners.

 

Producer Ha Thuc Van (middle) and four directors
In your opinion, what are the shortcomings of Vietnamese film-makers in comparison with international standards?

 

We have good ideas and skilled cameramen. I like cameramen who joined this project very much. Filming documentaries is different from filming feature films. Scenes in documentaries are not arranged so cameramen work like directors who have to deal with every rising issue on the spot. Cameramen must understand directors. They have to be sensitive to catch up with changes, even accept dangers. Cameramen in this project worked very seriously and they were as professional as foreign colleagues.

 

PV