HÀ NỘI — Eternité (Eternity), the latest French language debut by French-Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng, will be screened in Việt Nam this September.

Jointly organised by French Cultural Centre L’Espace and Green Media, the screening is part of cultural programmes being held to celebrate the upcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande. At the same time, the novel entitled L’élegance des veuves by Alice Perney will be published in Việt Nam.

Starring three top European actresses, Audrey Tautou, Bérénice Bejo and Mélanie Laurent, the film tells the stories of women who evolve from being young girls to wives, mothers and then widows after their husbands were killed in war from the late 19^th century to the end of the 20^th century.

Eternité is the first Hùng film in French language, even though he grew up and has lived in France. Despite not being screened at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals this year, the film still draws a lot of international media attention, as it marks six years of Hùng’s return since his successful film Norwegian Wood, which was released in 2010.

Born in Đà Nẵng City in central Việt Nam, Hùng moved to France when he was four. On his return to his hometown, he started producing films that presented Việt Nam’s unique features such as Mùi Đu Đủ Xanh (The Scent of Green Papaya-1993), Xích Lô (Cycle-1995) and Mùa Hè Chiều Thẳng Đứng (The Vertical Ray of Sun-2000).

After these films, Hùng produced I Come With the Rain (2008), which was filmed in the United States. — VNS