Big names make list to judge film festival

Judging role: Vietnamese actress Nhu Quynh in the movie Pearls of the Far East which will be screened at the HANIFF. The actress will be among the jurors for the feature movie category. — Photo thanhnien.com.vn

HA NOI (VNS)— Several prominent names from the world of international cinema have been announced as jurors for the second Ha Noi International Film Festival (HANIFF) which comes to the capital next month.

German writer and director Jan Schuette will preside over the jury of the feature movie category. He is the head of the Deutsche Film – und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) – one of Germany's leading film schools.

His 1987 film Drachenfutter (Dragon Chow) – a story about a Pakistani immigrant struggling to survive in a multicultural German neighbourhood – won the Cinecritica Award and UNESCO Award at the Venice Film Festival in the same year, and the German Film Critics Award one year later. The movie's success helped Schuette become known internationally when he was just 30 years old.

In 2002, Schuette was a member of the International Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, together with Martin Scorsese, Abbas Kiarostami, Tilda Swinton and Sharon Stone.

His jury in Ha Noi will include New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis, whose international career took off with a major role in the 1993 Oscar-nominated The Piano, and the 28-year-old actress Taraneh Alidoosti who has been dubbed "the best Iranian actress of the decade". Completing the jury are the Indonesian director Garin Nugrobo and the Vietnamese actress Nhu Quynh.

The HANIFF have also revealed the jury panel for the other categories. Vietnamese director Nguyen Vinh Son, cinematographer Martin Delisle, and the head of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, Chalida Uabumrungjit, will select the best short film.

Judges of the NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) Category include the network's general manager Ashley Ratnavibhushana, Martine Therouanne from FICA (festival international des Cinemas d'Asie) and the Vietnamese filmmaker Nhue Giang.

More than 120 feature films, documentaries and shorts will be screened at the five-day event.

Among them will be films made by Vietnamese overseas directors.

These include Cham (Touch) by the Vietnamese-American Nguyen Duc Minh, Do Hay Day (Here or There) by the female Vietnamese-French director Siu Pham and Ngoc Vien Dong (Pearls of the Far East) by Canadian resident Cuong Ngo.

According to Ngo Phuong Lan, the head of the Cinematography Department at the culture ministry, and a HANIFF organising member, negotiations are underway to invite the Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton and Leila Hatami – star of the celebrated Iranian drama movie A Separation which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film last year – to be VIP guests at the event.

The festival will begin on November 25. — VNS