The idea originates from workers and for workers
If we had to find a moment to lay the foundation for "The 9th Hour", it could be the end of 2021 - when the COVID-19 pandemic had just calmed down, the whole country entered the recovery stage. On industrial lines, factories, and production workshops, workers return to the company in a tired state.
In on-site interviews, reporters of Lao Dong Newspaper have often witnessed images of workers quietly having lunch on the sidewalk, taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep next to their motorbikes during breaks, or sighing between the extra shifts. They did not complain, nor did they lament. But behind the suffering look are confidences that have no place to hide. They don't have time to write diaries. I don't have the strength to say it. But they need to be understood by someone, at least once.
From those findings, the Editorial Board of Lao Dong Newspaper asked: "Can we create a press product, not to report news, but to share? A place where workers are listened to, see themselves, relive their stories, but in the voice of art? ".
Director People's Artist Khai Hung - who was "chosen" by Lao Dong Newspaper - recalled: "The Editor-in-Chief told me: "We want to make a storytelling program for workers, after 8 hours of work. No explanation, no propaganda. Just tell it true, tell it true and tell it with your heart" - that saying made me accept immediately".
The name "9th hour" was born from that spirit. A special hour, not in the morning or afternoon shift, but the precious silence of each person after the working day. "The 9th hour" is the time to think, to rest, to pick up the fragments of emotions falling between the reel - Austria - Rice - Money.
Since the start, the crew has agreed that they should not tell extraordinary stories, not leave reality. The good comes not from the dramatic knot, but from the simplicity to the pain. It could be the story of a mother raising a child for a university entrance exam, a worker having to choose between monthly salary and health, a provincial girl struggling to enter the city with the dream of changing her life... The lives seem very small, but when told in a warm voice, with gentle background music, they make listeners feel extraordinarily close and emotional.
"Workers may not say it, but they need to be listened to. "The 9th Hour" is a form of artistic listening" - director People's Artist Khai Hung shared.
Aired since January 2022, "The 9th Hour" was built by People's Artist Khai Hung and the crew of Lao Dong Newspaper as a spiritual space for workers after 8 hours of work. Not too fussy about form, the program tells everyday stories, sad, happy, hopeful, and hopeful. Not every ending is happy, but each story carries a ray of light, so that listeners can smile or at least feel relieved after turning off the show.
After more than 3 years of broadcasting with nearly 200 numbers, the program still persisted on that path. This is a noisy, but profound gratitude, of journalists for millions of workers who are silently contributing to the development of the country.
Each broadcast is a serious artistic journey: from short story selection, editing and dividing scripts, to filming, post-production, and harmony. All were meticulously done by a team of only a few people. People's Artist Khai Hung said that if in television, such a program requires 7-8 people, then there are only 2 staff members of Lao Dong Newspaper.
"The 9th Hour" was born from a very simple but humane wish of the Editorial Board of Lao Dong Newspaper. That is the desire to create a space of silence so that workers and laborers can listen and find themselves in everyday stories.
tell the story with all your heart
If The 9th Hour is an emotional picture, the actors voice is the pen that creates depth. Each character in the story from the old mother, the children working far away, the newly graduated worker, to the clumsy husband... all are revived through the dense and powerful voice of two veteran artists, People's Artist Minh Hoa and Meritorious Artist Phu Thang.
Right from the first, People's Artist Minh Hoa has been attached to the program as a love affair. As someone who has played hundreds of roles on stage, television, and cinema, she admits that storytelling through sound is a big challenge.
To make a film, I just have to transform into one character. But in an episode of "The 9th Hour", I had to constantly switch between many roles from mother to child, from neighbor to first-time village girl in the city... Just with the eyes, gestures and voice must be sophisticated enough for the listener to feel that character is crying or laughing, hoping or despair."
Every time he filmed, People's Artist Minh Hoa arrived at the studio very early, practiced his voice, and read the script many times to find the "heart rate" of the story. In the climaxes, she reads slowly, emphasizing each word as if to let the listener absorb it in her own skin. Once, when she recorded a section about a single mother hiding her daughter's cancer so that she could go to school far away, she was speechless in the studio and could not continue. The crew had to stop recording, waiting for her to calm down again.
At that time, I was no longer an actress, but that mother. I cried as if I was living in my story" - she shared.
Similarly, with Meritorious Artist Phu Thang - who is familiar to television audiences through serious and honest roles. portraying the character in a narrated voice is a completely different journey. No more stage lights, no dialogue co-stars, but in return, every breath, every moment of restlessness of his is filled with life.
I was moved when many stories in the program seemed to be confiding in the hearts of listeners. Sometimes I feel excited because the character is a good person, but life is ironic. Each story is a lesson for each person to live a better life".
Thanks to that simplicity and sincerity, The 9th Hour is not only for the workers, but also for many audiences. Some are retired cadres, some are young people. They listen to better understand the lives of their parents and the working community that they are silently serving every day.
All of that makes us - the show's creators - even more appreciative of the journey we are on. Although not noisy, not viral on the media or social networks, The 9th Hour is still quietly holding a place in the hearts of listeners with kindness and listening.
