Japanese actress Akari Nakatani acts in the short film, A taste Like Nothing, by young Vietnamese director Phan Bảo Tuấn. The film was honoured as Excellence Award Winner in the Shinshu Suwa Film Festival, in Japan. — Photos courtesy of Phan Bảo Tuấn

ĐÀ NẴNG — Stirring fresh interest with a taste of success, a short film titled A Taste Like Nothing by young Vietnamese director Phan Bảo Tuấn has been officially selected and honoured as the Best Short Film Award in the competition selection of the Shinshu Suwa Film Festival in Nagano, Japan.

The film, which was shot in Việt Nam and Japan, was awarded in recognition of its exceptional creativity, artistic achievement and contribution to regional and cultural storytelling.

It is the first film by Tuấn, a newly graduated student from the University of Theatre and Cinema of HCM City, and the first international prize for the young director.

Young film director Phan Bảo Tuấn (left) shows the Best Short Film Award in the Shinshu Suwa Film Festival, Nagano in Japan.

“It’s my first film, a graduation thesis at the University in June of 2025. A film focusing on culture, traditional identity, interpersonal relationships and people with nature are my favourite topics,” Tuấn replied Việt Nam News in an e-mail interview.

A scene in the short film, A taste Like Nothing, by young Vietnamese director Phan Bảo Tuấn. The film took part in the Shinshu Suwa Film Festival in Nagano, Japan.

He shared his feelings about developing the film.

“The film was developed from personal experience in exploring emotional distance between children and parents in many families in Asia countries," he said. "A meal, I tasted a soup more salty than usual as my mother unintentionally put two spoons in the soup. It reminds me that my mother is ageing and daily ordinary manners and habits in the family would disappear any time.”

“The film, which was naturally born from the fear of losing the family routine, reminds people that the sorrow of life is not only broken-hearted status, or separation, but it can also derive from mindlessness and neglect of daily habits in the family,” he shared.

The Saigonese young director said the film features the story of a female Japanese practical reporter, Aiko, played by Akari Nakatani, who returned home after a hard-working day and quarrelled with her mother over miso soup that was too salty.

Aiko then decided to leave Japan to search for a meaningful story in Việt Nam. During her journey in Việt Nam, Aiko confronted a sense of emptiness in her daily activities. She experienced unflavoured meals with family-based sentimental manners, empty salt fields, a bird’s nest left in the exhausted smokestack of a boat and a turtle caught in a fishing net trap.

All these stories from her trip to Việt Nam reminded her to return home to her family’s love.

A beach scene shot of the short film, A taste Like Nothing, at a beach in south coastal central Việt Nam. Photo courtesy of Phan Bảo Tuấn

Tuấn said the film’s main scenes were shot in the former south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuận (now merged with Khánh Hoà Province) and in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, with the support of a 40-member team in Việt Nam and three assistants in Japan over just five days.

He added that all equipment and manpower for the film’s production were funded by HK Film.

Usuda Reiko, a Japanese expatriate living in Hội An ancient town and a volunteer with the Japan–Việt Nam Friendship Association in Kawasaki City, played the role of the mother.

Tuấn said he has not yet taken part in the Đà Nẵng Asian Film Festival, a key rendezvous for filmmakers and young directors in Asia and Việt Nam. — VNS