Director Nguyen Thi Tham is a familiar face in documentaries with the outstanding work "The Last Journey of Ms. Phung". The conversation brought real-life perspectives on the documentary making profession in Vietnam - a passionate but also arduous journey.
Nguyen Thi Tham said that for young documentary filmmakers, film festivals are often the "first class of audiences". However, not all films are selected. The most important thing for me is still to make a film. That journey was already too difficult, just completing the work was a great happiness, she said.
The biggest difficulty, according to the female director, is finding a way to reach the audience. In Vietnam, the distributor has the right to decide whether the film is attractive or not to schedule a release. "If I was worried about the release of a film while making a film, I might not be able to finish a work for the rest of my life," she confided.
host Le Hoang added: In the world, film production, filming and release are three separate stages. But in Vietnam, especially for documentaries, filmmakers must be both good and bad. Nguyen Thi Tham does not consider it a disadvantage, only hopes that the work will have a " Dock" to reach the public: "Each film has its own fate, it is uncertain whether it has reached the audience or not, and success is also difficult to measure".
In addition to concerns, the female director advised young people: "If you really want to record your life in your own way, be brave enough to hold the camera, including your phone. Let's film, film again, film again. Making documentaries is a long journey, requiring attachment and perseverance with the character.
From that sincere sharing, the audience has the opportunity to better understand the reality of the many hardships but passion of Vietnamese documentary filmmakers.
