By Patrick Brzeski, Hollywood Reporter
With a population of 90 million—more than one quarter of the U.S.—and demographics that skew advantageously young, Vietnam has long been viewed as an eventual boom market for film and entertainment.
Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung and VTV personality My Linh. Courtesy of Autumn Meeting
The generation of talent that will likely drive this emerging screen phenomenon was on full display in the coastal city of Danang Saturday for the closing gala of Vietnam’s second annual Autumn Meeting, a workshop and film forum launched last year.
Programmers from both the Cannes and Venice film festivals were spotted in attendance at the event, grabbing the rather rare opportunity to build connections in one of Southeast Asia’s most promising, but reclusive film scenes.
“We created this event because what young Vietnamese filmmakers need most is exposure to film professionals from around the world,” said co-founder Phan Dang Di, whose debut feature Bi Don’t Be Afraid premiered at the Cannes Critics Week in 2011. “It’s hard for them to get exposure to international standards and practices. I had that chance, and it’s been very important to my career,” he added.
Di’s second film, Father, Son and Other Stories, is currently in post-production in France and his planned third feature, Full Moon Party, was one of the winners of the Busan Film Festival’s Asian Project Market in October.
The first section of this year’s Autumn Meeting took place at an eco-resort on a small island on the Thu Bon river, a short boat ride from the picturesque UNESCO world heritage city of Hoi An. There, in a jungle-entwined network of bungalows abutted by swimming pools, 11 young directors participated in a week of training sessions taught by Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung (an Oscar nominee and Cannes Camera d’Or winner in 1993 for Scent of Green Papaya; more recently, director of the 2010 adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s hit novel Norwegian Wood).
In addition, seven aspiring Vietnamese cinematographers received instruction and career mentoring from South Korean directors of photography Kim Hyung-koo (The Host, Memories of Murder) and Lee Doo-man (Spellbound, Wedding Campaign). The participation of elite DPs from the influential Korean industry—a considerable boon to the young event—was organized by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on the invitation of Di.
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