HÀ NỘI — The life of the Vietnamese diaspora in Russia will be reflected in a new soap opera produced by Việt Nam Television titled Moscow – Mùa Thay Lá (Moscow – Season of Falling Leaves).

This is Việt Nam Television’s first film to be completely shot in Russia.

Director Trọng Trinh said the romantic yellow colours of the fall in Moscow and the emotional story of love and friendship will be key factors in attracting audiences.

The film stars Hồng Đăng and Hồng Diễm, the couple who won viewers’ hearts in the TV series Cầu Vồng Tình Yêu (Love Rainbow), which aired in 2015.

In Moscow – Mùa Thay Lá, Đăng and Diễm play Minh and Phương, each other’s first love, who are separated by an unexpected upheaval. After many years, they meet again in Moscow and find that their hearts still beat for each other. However, there is a big gap between them because Phương is married to Đức, one of Minh’s friends. Phương is in a difficult situation because she has to choose between present happiness and the deep love of her past.

“Diễm performs her role in the film very successfully and so does Đăng,” said director Trinh.

“Their teamwork was perfect, although they’d not worked together for a year or so.

“I believe that the film will touch people’s hearts. It’s worth waiting for.”

The film was shot in Moscow and neighbouring areas. For Vietnamese people who have lived and studied in Russia, the film offers a trip down memory lane to familiar sites like the Red Square, Lenin Hills, Moscow Metro and the multi-functional Hà Nội-Moscow complex.

The film crew moved to different areas to find beautiful autumn scenes. When shooting began in Moscow, the leaves hadn’t changed colour. So the film crew had to travel to Sergiyev Posad City where autumn had already arrived.

“A lot of effort and hard work by the film crew made the peaceful and beautiful autumn scenes possible,” Trinh said.

“We had to manage the weather, food, the time zones, traffic jams and the distance between countries.”

The four-episode film will be screened on VTV1 from January 29 to February 1. — VNS