HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese movie Cô Ba Sài Gòn (The Tailor) produced by renowned actress Ngô Thanh Vân will compete at the 2019 Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

The decision was recently made by the culture ministry’s Cinema Department. 

The Tailor was directed by Kay Nguyễn and Trần Bửu Lộc, and tells the story of a young, arrogant girl named Lan Ngọc in the 1960s. She was born into a family of tailors who specialised in making áo dài (traditional long dress). She looked down on the career, and by some kind of miracle, travels to the future and meets herself a few decades later. She witnesses the tragedy of her family’s trade in the future, which resulted from the fact that she had turned her back on the craft. She then realises the value of the traditional career and learns respect for the long dress.

It stars Ngô Thanh Vân, Ninh Dương Lan Ngọc, veteran actress Diễm My and People’s Artist Hồng Vân. It includes 3D effects with a soundtrack by popular singers.

The Tailor was awarded Best Feature Film at the Golden Kite Awards by the Vietnamese Cinema Association in 2017 and has been screened at various international film festivals.

Each country is allowed to send one entry to the Best Foreign Film category at Oscars, which should be screened between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018. The jury will announce the five nominees early next year and the final results will be announced in Los Angeles on February 29, 2019.

Last year, Việt Nam sent Cha Cõng Con (Father and Son) by director Lương Đình Dũng.

The first Vietnamese movie to take part in the Oscars was Mùi Đu Đủ Xanh (The Scent of Green Papaya) by Vietnamese-French director Trần Anh Hùng in 1993. — VNS