HÀ NỘI — Young director Nguyễn Ngọc Mai won three Golden Lotus Bud prizes this year for her documentary Lẫn.

The film is a story about an old suburban couple. When the wife has a stroke and becomes forgetful, tragic and comedic situations occur. However, her loving husband still takes care of her.

Mai won awards for Best Documentary Voted by Audience, Best Documentary Voted by Jury and Best Debut Documentary.

The entry was appreciated largely because of its truthful scenes, displaying moving moments between the old couple.

The awards were announced on Sunday at Công Nhân (Workers) Theatre, 42 Tràng Tiền Street in Hà Nội.

It wrapped up this year’ss season with the theme ‘Kaleidoscope’, acknowledging diversity of personalities and points of view.

Seven films were nominated for documentaries, seven for short-films and five for teen film awards. They were selected from 83 documentaries, 25 short films and 18 films produced by secondary school students.

The films were 12 to 20 minutes long. Film budget limits were set at VNĐ5 million (US$250) per film.

The Golden Lotus Bud award for Best Film went to Muộn (Late) directed by Hồ Thanh Thảo and Chuyện Anh Hùng (Hùng’s Story) by Hoài Nam.

The jury board year comprised of director Phan Gia Nhật Linh, screenwriter Phạm Hải Anh, director Phan Đăng Di and director Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp.

Director Manouchehr Abrontan from the Netherlands attended, saying the entries reflected multiple facets of life.

The annual awards have been organised by Assistance and Development of Movie Talents since 2009. The event features the best short documentaries and short films made by participants in the We Are Filmmakers Project to encourage young people make movies. It was launched in 2002.

 — VNS