LOOKING FOR TALENT: Casting for 'Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tìn' (Love upon a Time), a new film project on love by young director Trịnh Đình Lê Minh, has begun in HCM City. Photo courtesy of the producer

By Thu Anh

HCM CITY — Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình (Love upon a Time), a novel by best-selling author Nguyễn Nhật Ánh, will be adapted for film in a project by private HK Film in co-operation with its partners in HCM City.

The casting has recently begun. Children aged between seven and 12 are encouraged to attend. Young men and women aged under 25 are also included.

Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình is based on the famous novel of the same name by Ánh, winner of the Southeast Asian Writers Award presented by the Thai royal family in 2010.

The book was published by the Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House in 2016 and became a bestseller.

It tells a love story. Southern culture and lifestyle are featured through the life of the main characters.

“We have invested both money and human resources in our film to meet the demand of Ánh’s fans,” said the film’s director, Trịnh Đình Lê Minh, in a recent interview with local media in HCM City when the film shooting started.

Director Minh is challenged himself and interested in filming Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình by Ánh, who has a series of nine books adapted for cinemas.

“My staff and I are working hard on filming Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình,” said Minh, adding he promises something to moviegoers who are also Ánh’s fans.

Minh said he hopes his film shooting will be completed later this year and be in cinemas soon after.

Best-selling author

Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình is one of Ánh’s more than 80 novels and collections of short stories.

Ánh began writing in 1984 and is known for his simple style and accurate depiction of children’s minds.

His best-selling works in the 1990s-2000s are still popular today.

In 2007, Ánh's Cho Tôi Xin Một Vé Đi Về Tuổi Thơ (Ticket to Childhood) was a hit and sold more than 20,000 copies in the first week of its release.

His novel titled Cô Gái Đến Từ Hôm Qua (The Girl Comes from Yesterday), released in 1995, remains one of the country’s best-selling kids’ books, and Moscow University included it in the curriculum for Vietnamese-language students in 2014.

BASED ON NOVEL: A scene from 'Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh' (Yellow Flowers on Green Grass), a film based on a book of the same name by Nguyễn Nhật Ánh. Photo courtesy of the producer

In 2015, his novel Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (Yellow Flowers on Green Grass) was adapted for a film of the same name by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ. The film portrays the lives of children in a poor rural area.

The film won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Feature Film and Best Director at the biennial 19th Việt Nam Film Festival by the culture ministry's Department of Cinematography in 2015.

It also won the Best Film Award at the Silk Road International Film Festival in Fujian, China.

The film was distributed abroad by Fortissimo Films Hong Kong. In Việt Nam, the film earned around VNĐ80 billion (US$3.59 million) in ticket sales.

It was sent to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the Oscar awards ceremony in 2017.

“I am inspired by the topic of childhood because I always love and miss my childhood. I miss everything and I want to keep my feelings in the books,” said Ánh, in an interview with the HCM City-based daily newspaper Tuổi Trẻ (The Youth). — VNS