'Tro Tan Ruc Ro' unveils relationships between three women and their partners in a southern seaside village. - TIFF
HANOI (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): Tro Tan Ruc Ro (Glorious Ashes) by Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen will become the first Vietnamese film to participate in the Competition Section of the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) that will take place from Oct 24 to Nov 2.
Based on a novel by renowned Vietnamese writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu, the film unveils relationships between three women and their partners in a southern seaside village.
To raise funds for its production, its producer, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, and director Chuyên introduced the project at prestigious international film festivals such as Cannes, Busan or Singapore International Film Festival.
Glorious Ashes overcame 27 other film projects from around the world to win the US$15,000 prize in the Asian Project Market Category at the Busan Awards in 2017. It also won SG$250,000 from the Inaugural South-East Asia Co-Production Grant of the Singapore Film Commission and received support from Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua.
The Competition Section of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2022 includes 15 nominees that are feature films completed after January 2022, selected from 1,695 projects from 107 countries and regions.
The Vietnamese film will compete against other highlights such as 1976, Ashkal, The Beasts, By the Window and Egoist.
Prior to Glorious Ashes, Chuyen had created many successful films with rave reviews such as Song Trong So Hai (Living in Fear), Choi Voi (Adrift) and Loi Nguyen Huyet Ngai (RH108). His documentary about ordinary people during the Covid-19 pandemic, titled Khong So Hai (No Fear), won the Silver Kite Award in the Documentary Category of Vietnam's Golden Kite Awards 2021.
Besides working as a director, he is now working as a manager of the Centre for Development and Assistance of Movie Talents (TPD) in Hanoi.
