** The army poet Anh Ngoc, from the Army’s Literature and Arts Magazine discusses his memories of the last Tet of the war

I am a poet of the anti-US generation and started my career at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s. Most of my works are long poems. As with other writers and poets of my aging generation, I think nothing is more important than health. As the New Year approaches, I only wish a good physical and moral health for my family and myself and an easy and untroubled mind, which is very necessary for us to write.

Currently, I often write for newspapers and magazines and find it difficult to compose poems. I always belong to the present and wish to write something for the present. However, I cannot escape the memories of my friends and myself in the past war period. I think that we can update the old materials with a sincere and profound approach. I became aware of this fact long ago, particularly during my recent talks with a public audience about the value and significance of the diaries written by two war martyrs, medical doctor Dang Thuy Tram and Nguyen Van Thac. I was asked why these diaries were written 35 years ago in a natural manner and were originally not for the public, but have demonstrated such modern resonance. Obviously, it is because the lives of these writers and their writing style were vivid, profound and sincere. While writing about the past now at the threshold of a new year of the new century, the writers described events in a profound and sincere manner, making them important and interesting stories for today’s audiences. I cannot promise anything but wish to write something about the past in an updated and useful manner.

I celebrated Tet in the war, which left me with too many bad memories. Tet should be an opportunity for people to reunite with their families, but in the war, it was the opposite. I remember most the last Tet of the war in 1975, when I was a war reporter for the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper and had just received an order to go south to prepare for the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising. That year, we celebrated Tet in a military station at the Indochina crossroads south of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. It was a wild and deserted place filled with the atmosphere of war. We were provided with only some Tam Dao cigarette boxes (locally made, low-quality cigarettes), some dry provisions, and a Chung (traditional square) cake. However, it was the most beautiful and rememberable Tet. It allowed me to witness the final moments of the war after 30 years. The fight commenced immediately after New Year’s Eve and it was the final battle before the end of the war.

Now, I’m getting old and I have no special feeling during Tet. I share the comment of the late music composer Trinh Cong Son, who said that as we get old, we think of Tet as a normal event. Tet is a special festival for young people. My memory of Tet reminds me of my childhood.

I have printed nine collections of poetry, two collections of poetry criticism, two collections of translated poems and two collections of prose. To be serious, I have never found any work of my own or my colleagues that deserved the same recognition as the diary written by war martyr, Dr Dang Thuy Tram. She was not a born writer but the diary’s sincerity is very attractive to readers.

** Married couple, film directors Thanh Van and Nhue Giang

Thanh Van, “I wish to produce a good film”:

Every time the New Year arrives I feel more worried as I don’t know if I can make better films than I did in the last year. I wish to make a celluloid film in the New Year with Government financial investment. I also wish for good health and the healthy development of Vietnam’s cinematography sector, of which I am a member. Vietnam’s cinematography has developed, but more interesting scripts are required to make real advances. I want to stress that interesting scripts make interesting cinematography.

Nhue Giang, “How significant the traditional Tet is!”

I am a film director working for the Vietnam Feature Film Studio, and I have directed some celluloid films and video films. Two of these films, Bo Tron (Running Away) made in 1996 and Thung Lung Hoang Vang (Deserted Valley) made in 2001 were highly appreciated by local and overseas audience. Both of them were about children. I think I have a predestined love for films about children. (Editors note: The film Deserted Valley won a silver prize at a film festival in Vietnam. It also attended international film festivals in Melbourne, Berlin and California and won two prizes. Film director Pham Nhue Giang was awarded the title 'New Asian Director' by the Association of Film Critics at Melbourne, Australia).

I like to produce films about children very much but am also fastidious about scripts. I am now looking for a script for a children’s film or a film with child characters. I have prepared some scripts about issues in Vietnam’s current modern society for adults but cannot find funding resources yet. I hope to find them soon.

Last year, I did not make any film, which saddens me. Although Deserted Valley was highly appreciated by audiences and was invited to festivals, I still feel uneasy and really want to make a challenging film.

I have celebrated a Tet away from home. It was in 2002 when I was in Berlin to attend a film festival. When I was at home I often complained about some Tet protocols such as visiting relatives and friends. However, when I was away, I felt how significant a Tet in the homeland is! On the last day of the last lunar month, I was very impatient and wished to do nothing but wait for the festival to end so that I could return home. I want to say that Vietnamese Tet is very sacred. It is a traditional event of the nation, which affects everyone. 

** Actress of the Youth Theatre and director of a drama troupe, emeritus artist Lan Huong

Tet is very important for the Vietnamese people, as it is an occasion for family reunions. Although we have to make performances away from home, we always try to return home before Tet to celebrate New Year’s Eve with the whole family.

Tet marks a New Year. Like other Vietnamese people living inside and outside the country, my family welcomes Tet and prepares special Tet food such as Chung (Square) cake, pickled onions and pork.

In the New Year I wish my family good health and joy. Regarding my work, I have many intentions but I want to keep silent before I have an opportunity to realise them. We hope to have one or two performances that may attract large audiences.

 

Thu Thuy