HÀ NỘI — A music video dedicated to 10 young female volunteers who sacrificed their lives for the Đồng Lộc Victory touched the audience’s hearts during its debut on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

The video, entitled Cúc Ơi, is based on a song of the same name composed by Hăng Ry, adopted from the poem written by Yến Thanh.

Excellent Artist Tố Nga has had the idea to make the video for 12 years, but for a number of reasons was unable to release it until now. Nga said it’s the biggest project in her 25-year-long career.

She invested a lot of time and effort to make the music video like a short movie, with professional audio, beautiful scenes and impressive special effects. Two hundred actors and actresses were involved in filming.

In the video, Nga performs the song Cúc Ơi and narrates the story of Hồ Thị Cúc, one of ten female volunteers at the Đồng Lộc T-junction.

Located in Đồng Lộc Commune, Can Lộc District in the central province of Hà Tĩnh, Đồng Lộc T-junction is a part of the Hồ Chí Minh Trail.

From 1965 to 1968, the US army dropped nearly 50,000 bombs and fired tens of thousands of missiles on the Đồng Lộc T-junction to cut off the transport route to the southern front.

At that time, in order to keep traffic flowing, all human resources were mobilised to clear the road.

Ten girls volunteered to work at the Đồng Lộc T-junction to ensure the safe operation of the transport route sending supplies to the southern front.

At noon on the 15th day of bombing, a bomb fell very close to the mouth of the cave where the 10 volunteers, aged from 17 to 24, were sheltering while they worked to fill in bomb craters to reopen the intersection. The bomb killed them all on July 24, 1968.

The bodies of most of the young girls were soon found. However, Cúc was found many days later. It was said that Cúc was an innocent, kind-hearted and energetic girl. Cúc and other girls at the Đồng Lộc T-junction become an inspiration for many works of art.

There are many songs and poems about them but Nga chose the one composed by poet Yến Thanh and musician Hăng Ry because she felt a connection with it. Thanh was also a comrade of her father during the war.

“My team felt emotional during their time making the music video in Hà Tĩnh Province,” said Nga.

“We want to dedicate this work to the brave girls at Đồng Lộc T-junction.”

For director Lam Hạ, making this video was a big challenge because war is a difficult subject for any director.

“I tried to make something different from other films of this genre. The fierce scenes of the war just highlight the beauty of the people’s souls.”

“Though the story is about war, it’s a music video, not a historical film, so it’s still made in a very artistic way.”

The debut is one among many activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of 10 girls at Đồng Lộc T-junction. — VNS