The Vietnamese film entitled 'Cha Cong Con' (Father and Son) has won the Best Cinematography award at the 17^th Milano International Film Festival (MIFF).

A scene from the film (Photo from Facebook page of Luong Dinh Dung)

The MIFF, which is taking place in Milan from 10 May to 10 June, aims to select features, documentaries and short films nominated by the cultural non-profit Leonardo Da Vinci Film Society.  The Best Film award will be announced in late May.

“Ten years ago, I came to Tokyo, Japan to receive the Best Film award at the 29^th Tokyo Video Festival for my 13-minute film The Boat Man.  I was surprised, excited.  I kept the award’s envelope till today and as a reminder of my starting point on a long road,” wrote director Luong Dinh Dung on Facebook on Monday.

“This year, the success of Father and Son is a another step towards the aspiration of a film maker.  The success of Father and Son today is small but it creates inspriration for me to continue to make an effort.  The dream of bringing Vietnamese film to the world may be hard, but there will be a path to it,” he wrote.

The movie, directed by Luong Dinh Dung, also won Best Foreign Feature and Special Jury Award for Outstanding Cinematography at the 26^th Arizona International Film Festival last month in Arizona, which drew 96 films from 20 countries.

Previously, Father and Son received the Indie Spirit Best Storyline award at the 15^th Boston International Film Festival in April, which saw the participation of over 3,200 movies from around the world.

The main character in the movie is a little boy named 'Ca'.  He lives with his blind father, who has spent his entire life by the river. Ca’s world revolves around the river and everything associated with it, including the animals, flowers and the wooden fish his father carved for him.

Ca dreams of touching the clouds and of visiting the fancy fairy tale lands described by his father.

However, Ca suffers from an incurable disease and cannot wait for the day his father has enough money to take him to the doctor.

The script for the film was inspired by Dung’s own experiences when he wrote Father and Son in 1995.

(Source: VNS)