HCM CITY – Glee Vietnam, a remake of award-winning American comedy-drama TV series Glee, has been nominated for Best Scripted Format at the International Format Awards 2018.

The other nominations for the category are Castrophe, a French version of the British sitcom of the same name, Les Innocents (The Innocents), a French series adapted from a Norwegian series The Eye of the Witness, and Onnela (The Sunny Side), a Finnish version of the Swedish hit series Solsidan.

The list also includes Dos Lagos (Two Lakes), a Mexican horror drama TV series based on British series Lightfields, and Step Dave, a Russian version of New Zealand TV series of the same name.

Glee Vietnam, consisting of 22 episodes, is produced by the HCM City film studio BHD and directed by veteran filmmaker Nguyễn Phan Quang Bình, who is famous for movies Vũ Khúc Con Cò (Dance of the Stork) and Cánh Đồng Bất Tận (The Floating Lives).

The film is set at a College of Arts and Sports which has a 12-member glee club led by teacher Hoàng Minh.

All the club’s members face problems in school and life, including friendship, love, class distinction and sex discrimination.

The series features young, attractive singers and actors, such as Angela Phương Trinh, Thái Trinh, Rocker Nguyễn and Bích Ngọc, who are popular among young audiences.

Veteran actors Thành Lộc and Đỗ An are also in the production.

Since last August, the series has been broadcast free on local online channels that show TV series and movies such as Danet, FPT Play and ZingTV.

After broadcast, the production received positive comments for its music, dance and costumes. But a number of viewers said the acting was not good.

Viewer Hồng Hạnh commented on ZingTV that the bad performances of the actors made audiences turn their backs on the film.

The actors said they welcomed frank comments from audiences.

Angela Phương Trinh, 22, said: “The frank comments helped the cast and me to try our best to improve our skills day by day.”

She said that the cast was happy about getting a nomination at the International Format Awards 2018. “Our efforts have paid off, ” she added.

The winners of the awards will be announced on April 7 during MipFormats, an international trade fair for television format, in Cannes.

The International Format Awards are the leading awards for the global format business, recognising creativity and excellence across a range of categories.

They are a coproduction between leading players in the business: C21Media, the Format Recognition and Protection Association (FRAPA), and Entertainment Master Class (EMC), in association with MipFormats.

More than 290 formats were entered this year, with 50 making the final rounds in nine categories.

The awards will be judged by a panel of international format buyers from the US, Denmark, Australia, France and South Korea. VNS