Pham Ngoc Lan (right) received the First Feature Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Early morning of February 25, Vietnam time, the website and fanpage of the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) announced that the film Cu li never cries (Vietnamese title: Cu li khong bao gio khong khong khong ) was the winner of the Best First Feature award (GWFF Best First Feature) at the 74th Berlin Film Festival, and sent congratulations to director Pham Ngoc Lan.
Cu li never cries is produced by film producers Tran Thi Bich Ngoc and Nghiem Quynh Trang.
Movie trailer Coolie never cries
Coolie Never Cries - New miracle of Vietnamese independent cinema
Director Pham Ngoc Lan's debut feature film has successfully defeated 15 other international films to win this prestigious award.
The 16 nominated films were selected by the festival's artistic director from the festival's five main categories, including Competition, Encounters, Panorama, Forum and Generation. Coolie Never Cries is in the Panorama category.
People's Artist Minh Chau (left) and actress Hoang Ha in a scene from the movie Cu li never cries - Photo: An Nam Productions/Cadence Studio
The film Coolie Never Cries tells the story of Mrs. Nguyen (played by People's Artist Minh Chau), a poor woman in Vietnam who returns to Berlin when she learns that her estranged German husband has passed away. All he left her was an urn of ashes and a coolie (a Southeast Asian primate).
When she returned to Vietnam, Mrs. Nguyen discovered that her niece Van (played by actress Ha Phuong) was rushing to get married because she was pregnant with her lover Quang (played by actor Xuan An).
The film's story will be the contrast between the pilgrimage in contemplation of the past of Mrs. Nguyen, a woman who has lived most of her life, and her niece who is preparing to get married with worries about the uncertain future.
The film depicts the interweaving of the present, the future and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history in a thoughtful and poetic way.
Image of a coolie in the movie - Photo: An Nam Productions/Cadence Studio
This is a project that independent filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan has been nurturing since 2017, the production unit is An Nam Productions (HCMC) and Cadence Studio ( Hanoi ).
The film was hailed by the Berlin Film Festival's official website as one of the most powerful cinematic experiences of the 74th festival.
(From left to right) Director Pham Ngoc Lan and three actors People's Artist Minh Chau, Hoang Ha and Le Thi Ha Phuong on the red carpet of the 2024 Berlin Film Festival - Photo: Berlin Film Festival
The 74th Berlin Film Festival took place from February 15 to 25 in Berlin, Germany. The film Coolie Never Cries was shown in Germany from February 20 to 25 at cinemas within the framework of the Berlin Film Festival.
On the evening of February 24, the 74th Berlin Film Festival ended with the most prestigious award - the Golden Bear of the international jury - being awarded to the documentary Dahomey by French-Seneral female director Mati Diop.
In November 2021, 26 treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey were returned from Paris to their homeland, the present-day Republic of Benin. In the film Dahomey, director Mati Diop traces the journey of these priceless artifacts through the fictional mind of a statue.
This is the second film from the African continent to win the Berlin Film Festival's top prize after director Mark Dornford-May's musical U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear in 2005.
This is also the second year in a row that a documentary has won the top prize, following On The Adamant by director Nicolas Philibert last year.
The Best First Feature category (GWFF Best First Feature) was first held at Berlinale in 2006, the winning film will be awarded 50,000 euros (about 1.3 billion VND), this amount will be divided equally between the director and producer.
Since 2006, the Berlin Film Festival has included the GWFF Best Debut Award in a commitment to supporting the younger generation of filmmakers. At the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, 16 films across four categories were nominated for the award.
The award is supported by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten, a society dedicated to protecting film and television rights in Germany.
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