BEST MOVIE - The director and actors of Đêm Tối Rực Rỡ (The Brilliant Darkness!) receive the Best Feature Film award at the Golden Kite Awards 2021 in Nha Trang on Tuesday night. –VNA/VNS Photo by Đặng Tuấn

KHÁNH HÒA — Đêm Tối Rực Rỡ (The Brilliant Darkness!) has won the Best Feature Film at the Golden Kite Awards 2021.

Lý Nguyễn Nhã Uyên has also won two prizes for Best Leading Actress and Best Screenplay for the drama directed by American Aaron Toronto.

The movie opens at the funeral of a grandfather whose family members believe left them a fortune. But his children find out that their father lost the fortune gambling, and the mafia is coming to collect the debt. They must pay by sunrise, or else there will be another funeral.

The work also won Best Story and Best Performance (female) awards at the 2022 Santa Fe Film Festival Award in February in New Mexico.

Đêm Tối Rực Rỡ was released in Việt Nam in April and earned more than VNĐ20 billion (US$844,000) in ticket sales.

Directors Trần Chí Thành and Nguyễn Thanh Vân were awarded Best Director for the movie Bình Minh Đỏ (Red Dawn).

The film tells the stories of woman soldiers who were chosen to be truck drivers to transfer arms, food and medicines to battlefields during wartime.

10-year-old actor Lại Trường Phú plays the leading role in the fantasy movie for children Maika: Cô Bé Đến Từ Hành Tinh Khác (Maika: The Girl from Another Galaxy).

Directed by Hàm Trần, the movie is the journey of how a little boy heals his heart after losing his mother by helping a girl from another galaxy find her way home.

The Vietnam Television Film Centre has won big with Best Drama Series for two productions 11 Tháng 5 Ngày (11 Months 5 Days), and Thương Ngày Nắng Về, a remake of the Korean TV series Mother of Mine.

Bùi Tiến Huy, director of Thương Ngày Nắng Về, was named the Best Director for Drama Series.

Thanh Sơn and Khả Ngân received awards for Best Actor and Actress in Drama Series with their leading roles in 11 Tháng 5 Ngày.

The awards were announced at a ceremony held by the Việt Nam Cinema Association (VCA) in Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa Province on Tuesday night.

They also honoured the best cinematographers, supporting actors and actresses, and best productions for works in the categories of scientific films, documentaries, animations, and short films.

According to VCA, the Golden Kite Awards 2021 received 147 entries, including 11 feature films, 14 drama series, 45 documentaries, 10 scientific films, 28 animations, 35 short films and three research works on movie criticism.

The organiser offered 36 free film screenings from August 1-8, attracting more than 4,000 movie-goers. — VNS