A scene from the film Hồ Chí Minh: Sketching a Portrait of a Politician. Photo courtesy of the State Records Management and Archives Department

HÀ NỘI — A documentary portraying President Hồ Chí Minh’s personality and revolutionary career made by French director Gerard Guillaume (1931-2015) will be broadcast in Việt Nam for the first time today.

Nguyễn Thị Nga, vice director of the State Records Management and Archives Department, said the documentary would be screened nationwide to commemorate the 129th birthday of President Hồ and the 50th anniversary of the implementation of his will.

“We bought the copyright for the documentary, made post-production and released it following after collecting rare and precious archives about Việt Nam thanks to the approval of then-Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng in 2012,” Nga said yesterday in Hà Nội.

The documentary will be broadcast tonight on VTV1, and then shown on other stations, museums and historical relics relating to President Hồ.

“The film was produced and broadcast for the first time in 1973 in France,” said Nga.

“It contains precious information and images that haven’t been shown in Việt Nam before. It also provides an important source of archives and a perspective on President Hồ seen by the French side.”

“President Hồ devoted his life for national liberation, contributing in the struggle for world peace. This year marks 50 years since he passed away. His ideology, personality and morality always inspire people to follow and research him.”

Nga added the documentary would give researchers another view on President Hồ and his career.

Titled " Hồ Chí Minh: Sketching a Portrait of a Politician (Ho Chi Minh: Esquisse Pour Un Portrait Politique), the 58-minute documentary was copyrighted and stored by Cine-Archives (Movie Library of the French Communist Party).

The documentary reflects the revolutionary career of President Hồ since his participation in the Tours Congress in 1920 and his journey to fight for the national independence of the country. It presents archives and interviews with historical figures.

The film ends with thewill of President Hồ Chí Minh, calling on the Vietnamese people to maintain the revolutionary spirit and the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam.

The documentary was shot in Việt Nam, France and Switzerland. It also mentions US President Richard Nixon, Phạm Văn Đồng as representative of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam at the Geneva Conference, General Võ Nguyên Giáp and Madame Nguyễn Thị Bình.

The documentary recalls historical events such as the Tours Congress, World War II, the Indochinese War, the Điện Biên Phủ Campaign, the Geneva Conference, the Tết 1968 Offensive and the Paris Accords.

Guillaume has directed other documentaries about Việt Nam such as Le Monde de Khoa (The World of Khoa) reflecting how a boy from the Red River Delta thought about the war in the north of Việt Nam, Les Chemins de la Victoire (Roads to Victory) and Jane Fonda au Vietnam (Jane Fonda in Việt Nam). — VNS