A scene in the animation video clip Ả Chạ on YouTube. The clip is one of a seven-part clip series on Vietnamese heroines under the two sisters Trưng (Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị) who led the first resistance movement against the Chinese occupation in the first century, around 2,000 years ago. — Photos courtesy of TNA

Thu Anh

HCM CITY — Casting for Trưng Vương (She-Kings), the year’s biggest film project, has begun in HCM City.

Amateur and professional actors aged between 15 and 50 are encouraged to join the cast launched by the film producer TNA Entertainment. Casting for child actors aged 5-8 is also open.  

Trưng Vương is a new film project of TNA Entertainment, one of the city’ leading private film companies. The film is about national heroines Hai Bà Trưng (two Trưng women) in 40AD.

It is based on the life of Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, the two sisters who led the first resistance movement against the Chinese occupation in the first century, around 2,000 years ago.

The sisters led their troops on elephants to repel Chinese invasions. Their victory brought liberation for Đại Việt (an old name for Việt Nam) after 247 years of Chinese domination.

Candidates for roles should send portrait photos and a video presentation.

Trưng Vương includes historic events and seven famous heroines, including Thánh Chiên, Bát Nàn, Ả Chạ, Hồ Đề, Quý Lan, Phật Nguyệt and Lê Chân, who were under the Trưng sisters.

“Our film will be a heroic song in praise of patriotism and bravery,” movie star and film producer Trương Ngọc Ánh, owner of TNA Entertainment, said. 

“Vietnamese women and their characters will also be highlighted,” she added.

Ánh and her partner, Vietnamese-Australian female film producer Janet Ngo, are the film’s co-producers.

“Janet and I love to feature Vietnamese history on film. We also wanted to feature Vietnamese women in movies,” said Ánh, adding that they believe Trưng Vương will be successful at the box office.  

The film crew, including the film’s young director Đặng Hải Quang, began the project in 2016. They have worked and consulted with dozens of cultural researchers and historians in Hà Nội and HCM City.

Talented composers, singers and fashion designers have also been invited to work on the production.

After casting in September, they will begin filming in December.

Movie star and film director Trương Ngọc Ánh and Vietnamese-Australian Janet Ngô, producers of Trưng Vương (She- Kings), a new film project on Vietnamese history, launched in HCM City.

Animation videos

To launch their production, Trưng Vương, a series of animation video clips featuring seven heroines under the Trưng sisters, has been released on YouTube. Each clip portrays the life and character of a heroine.

The first three clips featuring Ả Chạ, Bát Nàn and Thánh Thiên are on YouTube. The second clip Bát Nàn, released in March, caught the attention of viewers with the theme song Còn Gì Để Mất (I’ll Give My Soul).

The song in English, written by Taylor Eros, features young singer Đặng Mai Phương. Released by Sony Music Entertainment, it ranked number 21 in the Billboard Adult Contemporary Indicator Chart on April 26. 

Young singer Đặng Mai Phương performs Còn Gì Để Mất (I’ll Give My Soul) in the video clip Bát Nàn, released in March on YouTube. The song in English, written by Taylor Eros, was released by Sony Music Entertainment and ranked number 21 in the Billboard Adult Contemporary Indicator Chart on April 26.

The latest video clip, Thánh Thiên, features heroines Thánh Thiên, a daughter from a general's family from Bích Uyển Village in Kinh Môn District (now Hải Dương Province). Thiên is smart and strong and a natural military genius.

The video has attracted nearly 30,000 views.

The four remaining clips will be released soon.

A series of animation video clips featuring Vietnamese heroines Ả Chạ, Bát Nàn and Thánh Thiên in 40AD on YouTube, produced by TNA Entertainment and DeeDee Animation, have attracted many views.

“We decided to produce and release on YouTube a series of animation video clips because we hope audiences will learn more about the film Trưng Vương and its characters before watching in the cinema,” said film producer Janet.

Janet also hopes the series will attract young audiences to Vietnamese animation films instead of Hollywood productions. 

The film’s director Quang said the video clips were produced by 40 artists from DeeDee Animation, a private film studio in HCM City. — VNS