Documentary maker Trần Văn Thủy receives the Grand Prize at the 15th Bùi Xuân Phái Awards from Vietnam News Agency's Deputy General Director Nguyễn Tuấn Hùng. Photo courtesy of the organisation board

HÀ NỘI — The winners of the 15th Bùi Xuân Phái – Vì Tình Yêu Hà Nội (Bùi Xuân Phái – For the Love of Hà Nội) Awards were announced yesterday at the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) head office.

Filmmaker Trần Văn Thủy won the Grand Prize whilst collector Nguyễn Thị Thu Hòa took the Work Prize.

The Job Prize went to the Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Hà Nội Old Quarter's management board, and the Idea Prize was awarded to the Hoàn Kiếm District People’s Committee.

The awards were launched in 2008 by VNA’s Thể Thao Văn Hóa (Culture & Sports) daily and the family of late master painter Bùi Xuân Phái on the 88th anniversary of the artist’s birthday.

The awards aim to honour the contributions of individuals and organisations to Hà Nội and their love for the capital city.

Thủy is known for documentaries Hà Nội Trong Mắt Ai (Hà Nội Through Whose Eyes) and Chuyện Tử Tế (The Story of Kindness).

Thủy is considered an acclaimed Vietnamese documentary film director. Hà Nội Trong Mắt Ai, made in 1982, uses historical figures and stories intertwined with the history of the city to reflect citizens’ views on society at the time.

The documentary has a scene of painter Phái with a brush in his hand.

Chuyện Tử Tế, made in 1985, tells stories of human life and fate equally applicable to today’s world. It earned Thủy the Silver Dove award at the Leipzig International Film Festival, and the foreign press called it “the bomb from Việt Nam which exploded in the city of Leipzig” in the then East Germany.

Born in 1940 in the northern province of Nam Định, Thủy studied cinematography in Việt Nam and further at the Moscow Film College. Since 1977, he worked for the Việt Nam Central Documentary and Science Film Studio and the Việt Nam Cinematography Association.

He has also worked with Britain’s Channel 4 and Japan’s NHK.

Collector Hòa is also the director of Hà Nội Ceramic Museum. She was honoured for her book entitled Tranh Dân Gian Kim Hoàng (Kim Hoàng Folk Paintings). The book contributes to preserving and developing traditional folk painting craft in Kim Hoàng Village in Hà Nội.

The Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Hà Nội Old Quarter management board was the winner in the Job Prize category for the conservation project for the old French villa at 46 Hàng Bài Street in Hoàn Kiến District.

The Hoàn Kiếm District People’s Committee took the Idea Prize to turn the island in the middle of the Red River into a park using natural scenery to promote tourism.

The 15th Bùi Xuân Phái Awards organisers received 41 nominations in total and the shortlist was announced on September 21.

The jury panel was chaired by poet Bằng Việt, former president of the Hà Nội Union of Literature and Arts Associations, and included historian Dương Trung Quốc, architect Hoàng Đạo Kính, and veteran journalists. — VNS