Vietnamese film receives two awards at Singapore International Film Festival 2024

On the evening of December 9, the organizing committee awarded two awards to the crew, including the Outstanding Director award to Dam Quang Trung and the ARRI Outstanding Cinematography award to Vu Hoang Trieu. Of which, Dam Quang Trung received 7,000 SGD (more than 130 million VND) and the program's souvenir cup.

The work competes in the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition - one of the two important categories of the event, along with the Asian Feature Film Competition. The content tells the story of the lives of migrants, including a mother watching her son's funeral via phone, a gravedigger and a mourner. Through the work, the director depicts the image of a village gradually fading into oblivion under the pressure of industrialization.

The jury commented: "Dam Quang Trung was awarded the prize for his talent in turning a normal situation into an attractive satirical work, creating unexpected details with surreal elements."

The judges also highly appreciated Vu Hoang Trieu's filming technique, saying that the artist knows how to use the camera to express cinematic language, promoting the beauty of natural light and rural landscapes in the film.Elephants by the Roadside“Most importantly, their work explored the layers of socio-cultural issues and the complexity of their characters,” the judges said.

On stage, the director expressed his gratitude to the crew, friends, and family. "Today I did not prepare anything for this moment, everything came so suddenly. Thank you to everyone who always supported and helped me complete the film," he said.

Dam Quang Trung, 27 years old, currently lives and works in Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City. He graduated from the Department of Media Technology Management at Hoa Sen University (Ho Chi Minh City). First short filmElephants in the city(2021) by Dam Quang Trung won the Best Experimental Film award at the SEAxSEA Film Festival (USA), competing at the Singapore International Film Festival and the SeaShorts Film Festival. In 2022, he is nurturing the projectElephants on the roadside, received a production budget of 300 million VND from the CJ Short Film Project.

In the Southeast Asian Short Film category,Spirits of the Black LeavesThai director Thaweechok Phasom won Best Film,The Nature of Dogsby Pom Bunsermvicha and Nicha Ratana-Apiromyakij won Best Screenplay.

The most important award - Silver Screen Awards for Best Asian Film - was given toMongrelby Singaporean director Tsang Wai-liang and Taiwanese filmmaker Ying You-qiao. The project explores themes related to immigrants coming to Taiwan to work as health care workers. The film won the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and was also nominated for seven times at the 61st Golden Horse Awards.

Established in 1987, SGIFF is the largest and longest-running film event in Singapore. Over the years, the organizers have focused on showcasing works by Asian filmmakers and promoting Southeast Asian cinema. Last year,Inside the golden cocoondirected by Pham Thien An won the Silver Screen Awards for Best Asian Film.

The 35th edition of the event runs from November 28 to December 8. In addition to the awards, SGIFF also features a number of side events including film screenings, workshops and film talks. This year, Iranian director Jafar Panahi received the Cinema Honorary Award.