Another Vietnamese film gets lauded overseas.
VnExpress reports that Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham (Listeners: The Whispering) won the Best Feature Micro-Budget Under US$250,000 category at the International New York Film Festival 2021. The award ceremony was held remotely on July 12, with prizes given to 10 different categories. Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham beat 12 other nominees from around the world.
This adds to its impressive awards haul, as it won three prizes at the Asia Film Art International Film Festival earlier this month, including Best Acress and two Special Mention prizes for the overall film and actor Quang Sự.
Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham was directed by Khoa Nguyễn, and was set to be released in Vietnam back in March, but it has been delayed due to the pandemic. According to the news source, the small-budget film tells the story of a character named An Nhiên (played by Oanh Kiều), a young writer who is attacked by a ghost after completing her novel called Listener.
Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham isn't the only Vietnamese movie to receive internaitonal acclaim recently. In April, the Le Bao film Vi (Taste) won the Encounters category at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival.
However, the film's producers were then fined VND35 million by Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for submitting the movie without a publishing license, and earlier this week it was announced that the film would be banned in Vietnam due to its depictions of full-frontal nudity.
Check out the trailer for Nguoi Lang Nghe: Loi Thi Tham below.
[Video and top image via Lotte Cinema Viet Nam's YouTube channel]
