Thái Hòa films leading role Bảy Theo in Tunnels: Sun in The Dark. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

HÀ NỘI — Bùi Thạc Chuyên’s latest film Địa Đạo: Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối (Tunnels: Sun in the Dark) is digging deep into international recognition as it competes at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2025 (TIFF).

The movie follows a group of guerrillas led by the central character Bảy Theo in the Bình An Đông base in southern Việt Nam. Theo and his comrades are tasked with protecting the area for a strategic intelligence information group. However, their communications are discovered by the enemy and they find themselves in danger, facing repeated attacks.

The story seeks to end a war not with victory but with forgiveness for the enemy, according to the festival introduction.

The film was produced to mark the 50th anniversary of national unification last April. It became the first war-themed Vietnamese movie to earn VNĐ150 billion (US$5.6 million) in just two weeks. Its total revenue now stands at over VNĐ172 billion, according to Box Office Việt Nam.

Tunnels: Sun in the Dark will compete in the World Focus category alongside films from the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Chile and China.

Chuyên is a noted filmmaker with international awards. His earlier work Tro Tàn Rực Rỡ (Glorious Ashes) was the first Vietnamese film in the main Competition category at the 35th TIFF.

It also represented Việt Nam in the preliminary round of the international feature film category at the 2024 Oscars and won the top prize, the Montgolfière d’Or (Golden Balloon), at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France.

At the 31st TIFF, Vietnamese actor Liên Bỉnh Phát received the Tokyo Gemstone Award.

The 38th TIFF will open with Sakamoto Junji’s Climbing for Life, based on the true story of legendary mountaineer Tabei Junko, and close with Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, about the creation of William Shakespeare’s timeless Hamlet.

The 10-day festival will feature screenings and a series of related events in the Hibiya–Yurakucho–Marunouchi–Ginza area of Tokyo from October 27 to November 5. — VNS