Director Do Quoc Trung: I regret the climax scenes in the movie "Con ke ba nghe"

What inspiration brought you to the story of "Con ke ba nghe"? What have you and the crew prepared to ensure logic and accuracy when mentioning the factors of depression?

- We spent about 2 years preparing, from the start of script development until the movie was released in theaters. A few years before that, the producer had started to have directions for choosing topics as well as building a suitable crew.

I have also researched and learned about many cases of parents accompanying me to treat my child's depression, but then I was also "haunted" by this disease without realizing it, even though maybe they themselves were not aware of this. It was a terrible, painful and confused journey. Those emotions have been used by me as material to put into this film.

Tell Dad" also reminds me of my father. At the end of the film, I wrote a line of gratitude to him, because I thought maybe my father also suffered from depression that he did not realize. People don't talk much about this issue in my father's generation, but I know it has always existed.

During the filming process, was there any idea that you had to adjust because the actual conditions did not allow it?

- The most regrettable thing when making this film for me was in some climaxes. We could not perform the scenes as imagined. In my imagination, I wanted to film a high circus performance scene, showing the danger and drama of circus art. But unfortunately, within the city, there is no space that is qualified to accommodate the film crew to film this scene. We had to accept the option of filming in the city theater and adjust some details in the script to suit.

Another scene is the character balancing on the railing of a high-rise building, we also could not complete it completely because we did not have enough funds to rent and install safety cables on the buildings, exactly as described in the script. Filming in the studio also cost the project, so in the end I had to compromise to film the scene on the rooftop of a mid-range building.

I think at the present time, we are not necessarily short of studios. The problem lies heavily in funding. Even with a studio, it is impossible to set up scenes. Therefore, depending on the scale of each project, it is necessary to adjust it to be appropriate and be forced to accept such a plan.

13 years ago, he once affirmed that he did not encounter any difficulties in his filmmaking journey, because the films he made received great support and assistance from friends around him. To date, how has this changed and is it related to the limitations he encountered during the process of making "Con ke ba nghe"?

- To this day, when making my first film, I still receive support and help from many friends, from producers to actors, settings or soundtracks. Of course, when implementing a long film project, my task is to solve bigger problems such as market, finance, equipment... But for me, that is not a difficulty but part of the job.

Honestly, I still find myself more advantageous than difficult. If there are difficulties, they only come from myself: Talent and content. Do I have a story that is convincing enough? Do I understand the general audience when entering the film market? Do I have enough skills to stage attractive scenes for the audience?

As someone who has been formally trained in cinema and has experienced many different genres, and has also witnessed many ups and downs in this field, can you share your personal perspective on the development opportunities when entering the path of professional filmmaking?

- It can be seen that Vietnamese cinema is experiencing explosive development in quantity, and has had many successes in different genres such as horror, psychology, comedy, action. Conversely, there are also many works that are not of high quality and do not achieve box office revenue.

In my opinion, this phenomenon is completely normal. When the number of films produced increases, it will open up many opportunities for filmmakers to show their abilities, as well as improve their experience, from which quality works will be born. Industry personnel have many opportunities to work, stable jobs, living with the profession will focus on creativity and development.

With the current economic potential, the State's support in the cultural field will open many doors for serious and professional filmmakers, as well as create opportunities for difficult topics and genres such as historical films, biographical films, and science fiction films to be exploited more. As a young filmmaker, I feel fortunate to work in this stage of the country's cinema.

Throughout the filmmaking journey from before until now, is there anything that makes you "headache" but is rarely mentioned in the media?

- Human resources for me are always a difficult problem because most of them are young people who do not have much experience. Some personnel have not been formally trained, standard technical expertise to understand the correct filmmaking process, so there will be times of hardship and having to handle quite a lot of problems. But in return, they have passion and enthusiasm for filmmaking work. Although the producer will need time to guide them, through that, I also hope to train more personnel for a specific industry like cinema.

Up to now, I have always thought that the prerequisite and must pay attention to is the training stage. Because professional and specialized personnel are the most important things. For me, the human factor determines everything. But even the two leading film schools at both ends of the country do not have film production industries to focus on training producers, but only focus on creative positions such as directors, cinematographers, screenwriters... Thus, it is very difficult to develop the film industry because the production position (producer) is almost the most important for each project.

Besides "self-mobilizing" to manage to implement the private projects that you cherish, what are your wishes for the companionship and support from functional agencies?

- Personally, I believe that the Vietnamese film industry is under too much pressure, leading to some companies or filmmakers having to choose unsustainable development. We are forced to compete with international products that lack support for Vietnamese films. Or the imposition of taxes on the film industry is also increasing, pushing producers to find ways to recover capital in safe directions instead of developing diversely and experimenting creatively. Some companies also choose familiar settings, easy to apply for production licenses or use low-quality personnel to reduce investment pressure.

If cinema is considered one of the spearheads of national cultural development, it is hoped that functional agencies and related units can issue substantive and comprehensive support policies so that Vietnamese cinema can develop in the true sense, operating like a true industry.