HÀ NỘI — The inspiring story of Vietnamese engineers and technicians who used technology to change lives in a remote area of Africa will be shown on Discovery Channel from December 27.

The documentary Vietnam: Connecting East Africa, produced by Discovery Networks Asia Pacific and Việt Nam’s Red Bridge Production Company will show a global audience a different side of Việt Nam, said Hà Thục Vân, director of Red Bridge Production Company and production director for filming in Việt Nam.

The 24-minute programme shows how Việt Nam has played a big part in revolutionising telecommunication in East Africa and connecting developing countries to the world.

The documentary reveals the different stages of mobile technology development, from the building of infrastructure in Tanzania to bringing mobile services to people in remote villages in Mozambique.

“While Việt Nam itself is a country with a developing economy, its telecommunication expertise is equal to that of many of the world’s more prosperous nations and the efforts of Việt Nam’s telecom investors have taken their efforts to other developing countries,” said Vikram Channa,  vice president of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific.

“When making films about technology, international filmmakers often think of corporations in the US and Japan, so the story of Vietnamese technicians from the Military Industry and Telecoms Group Viettel is worth to tell.

“Vietnamese engineers overcame huge difficulties to bring advanced technologies to underdeveloped areas. So do the filmmakers, we carried huge amount of devices to shoot the films in the hard condition of weather, infrastructure, language and food,” he said.

Hà Thục Vân (right) and Discovery Channel film crew shoot in Hà Nội.

Anna Pak Burdin, general manager of Discovery Southeast Asia, said the channel has been telling engaging stories in Asia for more than 20 years. She expected that the amazing story of Việt Nam will draw high level of interest.

“We continue to invest in creating the best content to entertain and inform our fans, and this documentary is our latest effort, celebrating human ingenuity through the story of Việt Nam’s telecommunications efforts and how it has revolutionised the industry in developing countries,” she said.

“Above all, the documentary’s message is about people, humanity and daily life.”

The documentary began filming in late 2017. The film crew visited Việt Nam to film in Hà Nội, Bắc Ninh, Cà Mau and Hải Phòng.

Australian Vietnamese biomedical engineer and inventor, Jordan Nguyen, is the host and narrator of the documentary. The film crew includes director Emile Guertin and producer Ira Rakiz Tuffile.

Channa also made four short documentaries about Vietnamese culture in 2009.

After nearly 10 years, he acknowledged the dynamic change in Việt Nam. “The country doesn’t just share with the world its rich culture, it also shows the world the emerging development in the field of telecommunications,” he said.               

The documentary will be broadcast on Discovery Channel in Southeast Asia, Africa and Asia Pacific from December 27. The screening will be repeated six times until February 24. — VNS