Nguyen Cong Thuc Anh - the daughter of People's Artist Cong Ly with his first wife - recently completed a 17-minute graduation documentary called "Co mot sao" about a famous father.
Sharing with Lao Dong reporter, Thuc Anh said she studied directing at Hanoi University of Theatre and Cinema. The film about father is a graduation film, which Thuc Anh has been nurturing since her second year of college. The film shares the journey of a career and even the hidden corners that few people know about People's Artist Cong Ly.
Talking about the journey to recover after the stroke incident of People's Artist Cong Ly, Thuc Anh said: "My father's recovery process was long and had many challenging stages. There were times when my father felt helpless and depressed because he practiced for a long time without seeing any clear progress. But the trip to Japan to get vaccinated with stem cells, the times he was out for a walk or returned to the stage to perform, helped his father's spirit and health improve significantly."
Thuc Anh shared that what made her happiest was that the father and daughter could now sit down and chat about their jobs, work, and future orientations. Those are things that after my father became ill, he couldnt tell me for a long time. I am very happy that my father is healthier and more mentally better than before, Thuc Anh said.
When asked about the filming process, Thuc Anh admitted that she was under pressure when the main character in the film was her father - a great artist of stage and television. She added: At first, my father didnt want to make this film, so I lied him to convince him to agree. Therefore, throughout the filming process, I was always worried that my father would discover it and refused to let it continue. Luckily, maybe my father knew but he still let me do what I wanted, so the filming went quite smoothly."
During the process of completing the documentary about her father, Thuc Anh had many emotional scenes that were unable to continue recording the loi at home. Even in the recording, I heard a crying sound. Therefore, it became the recording with the most emotions. Unfortunately, because of the poor sound quality, she was forced to abandon that recording and record another version. But that was still a very memorable memory for Thuc Anh.
To the audience, People's Artist Cong Ly is a talented artist with many contributions to the arts. In the eyes of a child, Thuc Anh confided: It can be said that my father is a very instinctive person as a father. There were times when I didn't understand what I was thinking, what I wanted, I just loved him in the way I loved him. Therefore, there were times when my father made me feel quite hurt because of that.
But then I thought, you are just a father for the first time, you can't avoid all the "error". When I look back, I realized that the things that made me sad before were not because my father did not love me, but because he did not know how to express them. The more I grew up, the more I understood, loved my father more, and learned to put myself in his position to sympathize.
When asked about the most important message to convey through the documentary "Co mot sao", Thuc Anh confided: "I want the audience to feel that love is always present around us. Sometimes it does not come from the family, but I believe that no matter where we are, no matter the circumstances, love still exists and helps us move forward. I myself am also learning to recognize and cherish that every day. And I hope that when watching the film, everyone will also see and feel that loving energy.
Artist Cong Ly is familiar to the audience through his role as Bac Dau in Tao Quan and some roles on stage and small screen. In 2019, Cong Ly was awarded the title of People's Artist. In mid-2020, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Hanoi Drama Theater. However, a sudden incident happened in 2021, when Cong Ly suffered a stroke after falling in the bathroom. The long treatment period forced him to temporarily leave the stage. When his health has somewhat recovered, the artist strives to return to art.
His daughter - Thuc Anh, born in 2001, graduated from the Film Directing major at Hanoi University of Theatre and Cinema, Thuc Anh cherished the dream of becoming a director, soon entered the professional environment as a production assistant, film crew secretary at VFC, and joined her father in the film crew of "The Sun and the Street".
