Documentary Overcoming the Waves: A Slice of the City of 50 Flower Seasons

Journey of happiness

At the film premiere, General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Television Cao Anh Minh emphasized that 50 years after liberation is not only a long journey, but also a very heroic one. “From a country devastated by war, Vietnam has now become a peaceful, friendly, green and developed country. From that approach, we want to tell the story of the 50-year journey through slices and specific stories,” Mr. Cao Anh Minh shared.

The crew of the film Overcoming the Waves recorded the changes of the city after 50 years. Photo: TFS

As one of dozens of directors involved in the production of the film, director Nguyen Thi Thu Trang was assigned to make 3 episodes about the construction process of metro line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien). Although the first scenes only started filming 7 years ago, with special attention, she has been following the project since 17 years ago. She shared: “We can’t remember how many nights we stayed up at the construction site, where I was almost the only woman. This is definitely the longest and most difficult project I have ever done.”

Director My Khanh, who made the episodes from 1975 to 1986, shared her honor in participating in the project, because thanks to that, she had the opportunity to meet many researchers, journalists, and witnesses who provided valuable documents. “In the previous generation, patriotism, generosity, and dignity were always maintained in all circumstances,” she shared. However, besides her happiness, she also felt sad when some witnesses passed away before the film was completed.

The documentary Overcoming the Waves consists of 37 episodes (each episode is 20 minutes long), recreating the 50-year journey of the Party Committee, government and people of Ho Chi Minh City from the historic April 30, 1975 until now. The film is divided into 3 stages. Stage 1 - Subsidy period (1975-1986) includes 12 episodes, taking viewers back to the early years after liberation, when the city still bore the "wounds" of war. Stage 2 - Renovation period (1986-1999) includes 9 episodes, reflecting the turning point of Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country when the renovation policy was born. Stage 3 - Integration period (2000-2025) with 16 episodes explores the strong transformation of Ho Chi Minh City, from a traditional economic center to a creative urban area, a regional financial - technological center.

Meanwhile, the happiness of director Ngoc Ha - who is in charge of one of the contents in phase 3 (2000-2025) is to accompany young people with strong love and enthusiasm for this city. When filming volunteers cleaning up trash and canals, she knew that some of them had been pricked by needles and were at risk of HIV infection.

“I once asked why they did this and if they were afraid. One student said that at first he was very confused, but his love for Ho Chi Minh City was so great that he wanted to contribute to keeping the city clean, civilized and spreading awareness of hygiene to the community,” Ms. Ngoc Ha shared.

Inspirational footage

Director Pham Viet Phuoc, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Television Film Studio (TFS), shared that one of the biggest challenges in making this series was finding a suitable name. “We struggled and thought day and night, even losing sleep. Because the film takes the city as the subject, we had to choose a name that was worthy. In the end, we chose Overcoming Waves, a journey of overcoming waves, overcoming barriers to move forward,” he said.

Despite the advantage of rich sources of information and the participation of many witnesses, the crew still encountered many difficulties: a large amount of research, a topic that spanned many years with many complex issues. Journalist Thai Thanh Chung, who directed the content of the series Vuot Song, said that despite great efforts, the film still could not fully reflect all the difficulties and efforts of the Party Committee, government and people of Ho Chi Minh City, but was only a slice that helped today's generation feel the sacrifice, hardship and courage of those who came before. "I think the film will be a lesson and motivation for today's generation to forge their courage when facing challenges. Hopefully it will not only be footage of the past, but also inspire the next generation to follow in their footsteps," he shared.

The series "Overcoming the Waves" will air at 7:35 a.m. on HTV9 from March 25 to April 30 and at 8:00 p.m. daily on HTV and TFS digital platforms.

VAN TUAN