According to the VNA correspondent in Rome, speaking on behalf of the film crew to receive the award, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung emphasized that this is the first time a Vietnamese film has won first prize at the Asian Film Festival in Italy. This award is a great joy and honor for the director, actors and the entire film crew. The Ambassador highly appreciated and thanked the efforts of the film crew, which helped honor and affirm the development of Vietnamese cinema in the international arena, as well as contributing to enhancing cultural exchange, understanding and friendship between the people of Vietnam and Italy.
The three main themes of this year's Asian Film Festival in Italy are hot current issues, such as the status of women, the process of growing up through stories about teenagers and violence in various forms.
The film “Inside the Golden Cocoon” tells the story of the main character Thien’s journey to bring his sister-in-law’s remains back to his homeland. The journey through the mysterious and picturesque Vietnamese countryside makes Thien’s inner thoughts about faith and the meaning of each person’s life stir up.
Speaking to VNA reporters, Mr. Antonio Terminini, Director of the Asian Film Festival, said: “'Inside the Golden Cocoon', which just won the best film award at this festival, is certainly one of the most important films of the film season starting in May 2023, when the film surprised the world with the "Golden Camera Award" at the Cannes Film Festival (France), a prestigious award at the world level. I was fortunate to know people in the film's production team, such as producer Tran Van Thi, whom we just saw in the thank-you message, director Pham Thien An, as well as many other members of the team.
I see that in recent times, Vietnamese cinema has made great strides, not only with the emergence of young directors, such as the director of the film “Inside the Golden Cocoon”, but also with great potential in developing co-productions with European countries, as well as with Asian countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and many other Eastern partners”.
On Vietnam Film Day (April 16), jointly organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy and the Organizing Committee of the Asian Film Festival, Italian audiences enjoyed three films, all of which were welcomed and highly appreciated at many other film festivals around the world. In addition to the film “Inside the Golden Cocoon”, there was also “Oasis of Now”, a collaboration between Vietnam, Taiwan (China) and Malaysia by director Chia Chee Sum, filled with unique ideas, capable of depicting the contradictions of modern times through the painful narrative of everyday life. Meanwhile, the film “Sleeping City” by director Luong Dinh Dung was ranked by a significant part of international critics as the best local film of 2023.
After watching the original film with Italian subtitles, Italian experts and audiences commented that Vietnam has demonstrated its great creativity in the field of contemporary cinema, especially in recent years.
Sharing with VNA reporters, Mr. Tonino Mannella, a Vietnamese film lover in Rome, said: “I am always happy to watch Vietnamese films at the Asian Film Festival, because these films have shown the beautiful realities of Asian cinema in general, as well as of the geographical area that Vietnam represents. In particular, I think that the film “Inside the Golden Cocoon” winning the best film award at the film festival is the highest appreciation for Vietnamese cinema.
Besides this film, I also really love other representative films of Vietnamese cinema, films that have the ability to introduce aspects of a nation and bring strong impressions, even with very difficult topics to exploit.
This year's festival features 32 feature films and 3 short films in the categories of "Newcomer" (first director), non-competitive films and competitive films from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (China), Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Nepal and Mongolia. In addition to the general screening days, the festival has organized separate days for Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese films.
The Asian Film Festival in Italy is an event organized by the Robert Bresson Film Foundation, specializing in selecting the best new works of East Asia by both veteran and new and young directors. The festival is also an opportunity for guests from different countries, including directors, actors, producers to meet Italian producers and distributors to seek opportunities for co-production between Italy, Europe and East Asia. Vietnamese films have been continuously present at the festival in recent years and have been highly appreciated.
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