Vietnamese director honoured at Chinese film festival

Elsewhere, the best director prize was awarded to Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir of Mongolia for “City of Wind”.

Wei Shujun’s black comedy-thriller “Only the River Flows” was awarded the festival’s Fei Mu prize for best Chinese film. 

Pingyao International Film Festival was first held back in 2017 with the ultimate aim of celebrating the achievements of international cinema whilst simultaneously promoting the works of young Chinese directors. This year marks the seventh edition of the festival.

Vietnamese movie “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” tells the story of a man named Thien who is tasked with delivering his sister-in-law’s body to their countryside hometown following a tragic motorcycle accident which happened in Sai Gon.

Accompanied by his five-year-old nephew Dao who was miraculously rescued from the accident, he goes on to find his brother who has been missing for several years.

According to director Thien An, it took a total of four years to complete the movie, with three shootings taking place in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Earlier in May, the movie beat 17 other competitors to be named winner in the Directors Fortnight's category of the Caméra d'Or (or Golden Camera) Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

An, 34, was born in Lam Dong province and graduated in Information Technology from Lotus University in Ho Chi Minh City. He has won a number of awards, including the 48 Hours Film Project in Ho Chi Minh City and the top prize at the CJ Short Film Making Project, one of the nation’s leading short film contests.

In 2015, he moved to the United States where he continued to work as a freelance filmmaker.

His latest short film, “Câm Lặng”, known as “The Mute” in English, was originally screened as a World Premiere at the Palm Springs International Shortfest in the US in 2018.