HCM CITY — Director-producer-actress Việt Trinh of HCM City is working with South Korean partners to produce the film Ba Điều Ước (Three Wishes), expected to be released later for this Christmas season.

Ba Điều Ước is re-produced by Trinh’s company, Senafilms, and Korean producer Mattcho of the Maxx Film Company. Directed by Hwi Sung-kim, the film is about love and family issues that young Vietnamese face in modern society. 

It features young actors such as Midu, Huỳnh Anh and Hứa Vĩ Văn, who perform with veteran artists Thanh Nam and Lê Giang.

“We have invested more than VNĐ12 billion (US$500,000) on filming Ba Điều Ước, with half of the money coming from our Korean partner, to guarantee that the production is popular at the box office,” Trinh said.

One of the country’s few female directors, Trinh, who was known as the Queen of the Box Office in the 1990s, believes younger audiences need serious but entertaining films.

In 2015, Trinh and her partner, female film producer Châu Thổ, decided to begin producing entertaining and commercially viable movies for the local market. 

They spent more than VNĐ10 billion ($445,000) on Trinh’s fourth film, Trót Yêu (Love Triangle), a production about extramarital relations between a businessman, played by Đức Hải, owner of a fashion and modelling company, and his executive employee, played by young actress Khánh My. Trinh has a supporting role in the film.

The film attracted more than 14,000 ticket-goers within a week after release.

“I’m still confident about playing after a decade leaving the screen. However, I wanted to challenge myself as a producer in Ba Điếu Ước,” said the 45-year-old Trinh, who has had a leading role in more than 30 films and TV series. 

“I hope to learn lessons in filming and producing after working with Korean filmmakers,” she added.

The film’s post production will be completed in South Korea.

Ba Điều Ước will compete against American and South Korean movies during the busy Christmas season. — VNS