The 30-minute documentary’s director Phan Duy Linh granted an interview to VOV about the film production.

Why did you intend to make a film about Vietnam’s traffic?

Films aired on Discovery usually cater to foreigners so their themes must be of international characteristics. I found that traffic jams are not only a big problem in Vietnam but also a nightmare in many other nations worldwide. Traffic also haunts citizens in countries like Thailand and the Philippines.

I chose this topic with a hope to contribute a story about traffic jams and to provide a new illustration of Vietnamese people’s behaviour toward the issue.

What are the contributions made by the film’s characters in minimizing traffic congestion in Hanoi?

My documentary features three lines of characters, who are both victims of traffic congestion and activists in the fight against it. The first group includes volunteer students that courageously stand as the median strip at traffic points where jams occur frequently. The second group comprises Dung and his traffic designing group who create special roundabouts where road-users can only turn right or go straight. The final group has reporter Pham Trung Tuyen and his VOV colleagues who make a radio channel to assist drivers and other road users. The VOV Traffic channel provides information about traffic in Hanoi around the clock.

As far as I know, programmes like this have not been popular in regional countries as well as around the world. This initiative has proved effective in alleviating traffic congestion and creating convenience for foreign tourists to Vietnam.

How did the Discovery film producers’ respond to your ideas?

For two months, we – Vietnamese filmmakers, and our counterparts from Discovery engaged in hot debates in order to work out a complete scenario. Discovery wanted us to build a story with climaxes and characters that have contradictions and conflicts, not a story that purely describes the portraits as in our initial scripts. Though this is a documentary, it must be developed as a story with real characters and real contradictions. Documentaries do not permit arrangement and fiction.

Could you share some experience in producing the Jam Busters film?

Most of the scenes were shot in streets to create visionary effects and beautiful frames. We risked carrying cameras in opposition to traffic flows. Many times vehicles nearly plunged directly into us, sometimes causing small scratches to the team. However, we recorded genuine images of Vietnam’s traffic in return.

What are the most difficulties that a Vietnamese director faces in making films together with Discovery?

For me, the most challenging thing lies in scenario thinking, not in humans, technology or language barrier. For the entire two months, the documentary was dug up to every small detail and the filmmakers had to contact and study the characters thoroughly so that all set criteria were met before shooting.

What lessons and experiences have you drawn from working with Discovery experts in making professional films?

Coming up with ideas is more important than how to translate them into films. The director must anticipate, find interesting stories and connect them into an interesting movie with climaxes and solutions to contradictions. In my film, I always highlighted the drama during its production.