International award-winning filmmaker Hà Lệ Diễm. Photo Đồng Thiện Phúc

Hà Lệ Diễm of the Tày ethnic group is probably the youngest filmmaker to win the best director and Golden Lotus Award, granted for her first full-length documentary Những Đứa Trẻ Trong Sương (Children of The Mist) at the 23rd Việt Nam National Film Festival last month in Central Highland Đà Lạt City.

Diễm’s documentary has participated and won at international film festivals, including the best director at the 2021 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Việt Nam News reporter Nguyễn Bình chats with Diễm about her work.

Two years after you were honoured at the festival in Amsterdam, the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988, once again you won the top awards at the national film festival. Do you feel differently at the award ceremonies?

It is quite different. The national film festival organisers invited the parents of my character to the award ceremony. It is great to receive the award with them and I see they are also happy. I think that it is meaningful for them because our efforts are recognised by Vietnamese people.

When my name was announced on the stage in Amsterdam, I was very surprised. I didn't have time to prepare for it. Just few minutes previously, I and two other directors had left the front row, not knowing that the organisers had intentionally arranged our seating.

I felt a bit lonely when I was in Amsterdam because I was there alone.

You have won prizes at film festivals including Balimakarya Film Festival in Indonesia, Education Film Festival in France and Docaviv Film Festival in Israel. What does winning awards mean to you?

The awards are meaningful to me. Each award has a different meaning. There are awards for the film crew and other awards for individuals such as director.

The film has also received awards from high school audiences in China, France and Australia. I personally like these awards because the main character Di is young and the same age with the young audiences.

The young audience likes the film and they have sympathy for Di. It makes me happy.

What is an unforgettable memory of yours from attending international film festivals with the documentary?

There was a time when the film was shown at a film festival in Turkey. An audience member left the show before the film ended. This person felt that what happened in the film was too violent for him.

From this perspective, perhaps I am an unkind filmmaker. The meaning of a film depends on the emotions of each viewer. When I make a film, I want to tell a story. But once released, it is difficult to say whether the film is useful or not.

I like making documentaries because I can watch them over and over again. Every time I watch, I realise something new. It is very different from watching a motion picture.

Plus, the filmmaking idea came to me once when I followed Di going play with her friends. I saw them playing "catching wife" which is a longstanding tradition. Suddenly I felt scared and I thought that just a few years later their game will become a reality.

Luckily, Di didn't get married like her mother and her sister. She got married with her lover when she was 17 years old and she had a daughter. Di's story makes me to remember my close friends. They got married at the age of 15. I was very sad.

It took five years to complete the film. Did you consider this a long time, and what was the biggest difficulty for you in making the film?

It is not too long for making a documentary. I mean that it is not rare in documentary making. The most difficult thing for me is technique and filmmaking skill. At the beginning of the shooting, I lacked experience to plan a film shoot and I found it very difficult.

During the shooting, I use a camera weighing up to 3kg. Shooting in the characters' house was not convenient because of the lack of light. It is windy and foggy in Sapa and sometimes tiny drops of water formed on the camera lens. Plus, I have to remove the sound of wind and noise. Or I had to move close to the characters to record their dialogue.

I was alone to shoot the film so everything is really hard. Sometimes, I held an umbrella in one hand and the other hand I held the camera. I followed the children going to hang out in Spring season. There were days when the children walked up to 40km. I remember that in 2018, I walked with Di for 3 days in a row until I got sick.

I tried my best and overcame the difficulties to complete it. While working, I always thought that if I wanted to make films, I just have to complete the first one. The others would never be able to be made until afterward, so I have to be determined to do it.

What are some things you and your character have in common?

When I meet my character and her friends, I return my childhood. I like them after getting to know them. Di is a clever and mischievous girl who resembles me when I was young. We were both born in the northern mountainous area.

I want my character to have the chance to learn, because I see that learning is very important for children in the mountains like me and Di. I think that this is the only way of helping them to get out into the world and to have more choices.

You graduated in journalism. Why did you then become a filmmaker? And when will the audience get to watch your new film?

I like cinema. For me, journalism always is first to publish the news. Cinema is to tell emotional story. I like making film because I have a long time with my characters in beloved areas.

I attended a free-of-charge filmmaking training course at the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents, thanks my friends' introduction. I was a student then and I did not have much money for what I wanted to do.

I don't know when I will complete my next film because it doesn't depend on me but it depends on the story and real life of my characters, their living situation and their story. VNS