HÀ NỘI — Host Việt Nam won four prizes at the forth Hà Nội International Film Festival (HANIFF) that closed Saturday.

The awards ceremony took place at the Culture and Friendship Palace, wrapping up the six-day festival with various activities honouring local and world cinema.

Directed by Hoàng Nhật Nam, the ceremony was included an art performance with the participation of singers Ái Phương, Kiều Anh and South Korean band Off Road.

“The festival brings Vietnamese cinema closer to the world and brings world cinema closer to Vietnamese audience thanks to the efforts of the organisers,” said the head of the Cinema Department (under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism), Ngô Phương Lan.

As host country, Việt Nam has two representatives in the feature-length category, which went home with major awards.

"Jackpot", directed by Dustin Nguyễn, is about a released convict who wins a big lottery prize. The film won The People’s Choice Award for feature-length film. "Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass", a film by director Victor Vũ on teenage love, took the Jury Special Mention for feature-length film. The two films previously won various awards at home and were selected to represent Việt Nam in the best foreign language film category at the 2015 and 2016 Oscars, respectively. 

Meanwhile, the Best Feature- length Film Award went to "Remember", a 2015 Canadian-German drama thriller film directed by Antom Egoyan. Its leading actor, Christopher Plummer, also went home with The Best Leading Actor Award.

The HANIFF Campus brought together domestic and foreign professional filmmakers, filmmaking students, producers and directors seeking partners and investors.

At a master class for directors, Lê Quỳnh Anh, Hà Nguyễn Quang Thái and Nguyễn Lương Diệu Hằng won with two film projects "Do not answer" and "House pet". Đào Thu Hằng with the script for "Balance Point" at a class for screenwriters. Nguyễn Hà Lê from the production class won with her film project "Blood Line". Her work has also been selected to compete in the Berlin Film Festival next year.

The Project Market programme at the festival enabled participants to learn from professional film makers, said director Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Việt, 25.

“Young directors have a chance to present their own film projects to top investors and top experts in the field, improve their presentation skills. Along with the presentation of their projects, participants get to hear opinions, suggestions and guidance from professionals to complete their products. The programe provides participants with an environment to gain funds from important sources such as the World Cinema Fund to complete their projects,” he said.

Two prizes of the Project Market went to feature-length film project "One Summer Day", directed by Zay Yar Aung of Myanmar and a short film project "Roommate Service" by local director Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Việt. — VNS

List of awards

The Best Feature – length Film Award: Remember

-         Director: Atom Egoyan (Canada)

The Best Short Film Award: Three Variations of Ofelia

      -         Director: Paulo Riqué (Mexico)

The Best Leading Actor Award: Christopher Plummer

-         Film: Remember (Canada)

The Best Leading Actress Award: Hasmine Killip

-         Film: Ordinary People (Philippines)

Award for Best Director of Feature - length Film in competiton: Eduardo Roy Jr

      -         Film: Ordinary People (Philippines)

Award for Best young Director of Short films in Competition: Phạm Ngọc Lan

-         Film: Another City (Việt Nam)

The Jury Award for Short Film: Heart of the Land

-         Director: Kaika Astikainen (Finland)

Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema: The Green Carriage

-         Director: Oleg Asadulin (Russia)

The People’s Choice Award in Feature – length Film competition: Jackpot

-         Director: Dustin Nguyễn (Việt Nam)

The People’s Choice Award for Vietnamese Film in Contemporary Vietnamese Film Program: Taxi, What’s Your Name?

-         Director: Đỗ Đức Thịnh - Đinh Tuấn Vũ (Việt Nam)

The Jury Special Mention for Feature - length Film: Yellow Flower on the Green Grass

-         Director: Victor Vũ (Việt Nam)

The Jury Award for Feature - length Film: One Way Trip

-         Director: Choi Jeong-yeol (South Korea)