A success at Cannes encourages development of short film industry A Vietnamese production won third prize in the short film category at the recent Cannes Film Festival in France. The film, Cuoc Xe Dem (the Night Cyclo Trip), beat nearly 151 short films to make the final Cannes shortlist of 12 films; The Night Cyclo Trip tells the story of a young rural man who leaves his home village to work as a cyclo driver in the city. One quiet night, he is hired to carry a corpse across the city, beginning a series of strange events. The night trip is used by the film maker to lead his audience into Hanoi’s small lanes at night to see the lives and destiny of labouring people who are struggling to earn a living. The Night Cyclo Trip was already seen in Hanoi with eight other short films before the Cannes Festival took place. It was highly appreciated for its shooting technique, selected images, effective sound effects, psychological development of the main character, concise dialogue, and focus viewpoint. This short film is directed by 32-year-old Bui Thac Chuyen. Chuyen graduated from the University of Stage Art and Cinematography in 1990 in Hanoi, and the Night Cyclo Trip is his first cinema release after making a series of TV films. The film has only one main character and lasts just 19 minutes. But it took the director two years for preparation and 17 days for shooting. It is the same length of time it usually takes him to shoot a 240-minute TV film. Chuyen did not think of sending his film to the Cannes Festival. He simply told us that something urged him to make the film. Chuyen attended a director special training workshop included in the Ministry of Culture and Information program on rehabilitating the national film industry. It was coincidental that when Chuyen went to the Cannes Festival with his first work, the Vietnam Cinematography Department launched a short film contest for Vietnamese film makers nationwide. Tran The Dan, Deputy Director of the Department told VOV News, "On May 22, the Vietnam Cinematography Department launched a short film contest to encourage the participation of film makers from different sectors nation-wide. It does not take a large sum of money to make a short film, so Vietnamese film makers can afford it. However, it is difficult to produce a short film. The talent, qualification and thinking of film makers can be seen clearly in short films as the short film is very condensed but must be informative and impressive. Talent is often detected through the production of short films." According to Chuyen, during the production process, he received much assistance from his colleagues and feature film companies. After an initial shoot in Hanoi, "The Night Cyclo Trip" was highly appraised and funded by the Audio-Visual Division of the French Embassy in Hanoi. The final stages of the film were completed in France. Chuyen went to France and worked together with his French colleagues for two months and a half to complete the film. Chuyen also feels happy that his script won the support and interest of the whole team, particularly Vietnamese main actor Nguyen Thanh Hung and cameraman Ly Thai Dzung and the French technicians. Chuyen said that each second of the film is as he had imagined and calculated it would be. Chuyen was accompanied by his wife to the Cannes Festival. It is often said that a short film is the name card of young film directors to the producers, donors and interested people. The Night Cyclo Trip is an excellent name card for Bui Thac Chuyen. The Voice of Vietnam - June 17, 2000.