By Phương Mai

HCM CITY – While many directors are focused on making films for adults, the award-winning director Lê Bảo Trung loves creating movies for children.

 “I love kids and I’m happy making films for them. I hope they find joy in my work,” said Trung, owner of the private film company LBT.

His film, Anh Em Siêu Quậy (Naughty Brothers), hit cinemas across the country on May 31.

“It’s my gift for children for Children’s Day on June 1,” he said at the film’s premiere in HCM City on May 28, where more than 500 children laughed and screamed during the screening.

Anh Em Siêu Quậy is an adventure movie about a boy named Ton. One day, his parents bring home a younger boy named Tin, a lost child of the family for years.

Ton, who dislikes Tin, does not want to share his parents’ love. So a rivalry between the boys breaks out.

But one day, Tin gets kidnapped and Ton rescues him. After that, the two boys learn to love each other.

“I hope our film can entertain both children and their parents,” the 43-year-old director said. “I believe adults will gain useful lessons in finding a way to love and understand their kids, and kids will learn how to love each other.”

Trung cast Duy Anh, 7, and Kutin, 6, as Ton and Tin in the film.

“Our child actors are very talented,” he said, laughing.

Duy And and Kutin are familiar faces to television audiences. They have appeared in game shows and movies for kids like Người Hùng Tí Hon (Little Giant) produced by Vĩnh Long Television and Bảo Mẫu Siêu Quậy (Babysitters), a film for children, also by Trung.

After viewing the film, actress Vân Trang, 31, said that Duy Anh and Kutin performed well.

She said that she had also learned lessons about raising children.

Trung’s previous two films for children, Bảo Mẫu Siêu Quậy, released in 2015, and last year’s Bảo Mẫu Siêu Quậy 2 were popular with children.

Thousands of children and their parents went to the cinema during the summer to see the films, which were about a group of pre-school children learning how to protect each other from kidnappers.

“I want to pull children out of their houses to go outside instead of playing with smart devices all the time,” Trung said.

Most directors choose to make films for adults or animated films because making films for children is difficult, according to Trung.

“I face challenges because I have to do films capturing the minds and eyes of children. The shortage of good screenplays and skilled young actors is the main difficulty,” Trung said.

Apart from Trung’s works, there are few Vietnamese children’s films now in the cinema, while there are only a few foreign animated films.

“Movies for children are a promising market,” he said, adding that film producers should work with publishing houses and talented authors to create quality screenplays to produce films for children.

Trung is a graduate in directing of the HCM City Theatre and Cinematography University and Hà Nội Cinematography University. He also studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California in the US.

In 2003, he won a Golden Kite Award for best TV series from the Việt Nam Cinematography Association for his first film production, Hải Âu (Albatross), about children living on islands.

His TV series include Lục Vân Tiên (The Tale of Lục Vân Tiên), Một Chuyến Phiêu Lưu (An Adventure) and Chuyện Tình Đảo Ngọc (Love on an Island).

Trung has produced several successful films, including Đẻ Mướn (Hired Pregnancy), Võ Lâm Truyền Kỳ (Swordsman) and Bóng Ma Học Đường (Ghost at School), the first Vietnamese 3D movie. —VNS