Bui Thac Chuyen Film Week: From Cannes Film Festival Award to 'Tunnel' Fever

From August 15-24 in Hanoi, there will be a film week called "Sun in the Dark: Director Bui Thac Chuyen Film Week" with 8 of his typical works.

The event took place at Ngoc Khanh Cinema (523 Kim Ma), organized by TPD Center for Supporting and Developing Cinema Talents (under the Vietnam Cinema Association), coordinated by Vietnam Film Institute and Tunnel Films.

This is an opportunity for audiences to look back at more than two decades of cinematic creativity of one of the prominent faces of contemporary Vietnamese cinema. Especially after the success of "Tunnel: Sun in the Dark" (2025) - a rare war film in Vietnam that does not use state capital - earned 172 billion VND in revenue.

Director Bui Thac Chuyen on the set of the film "Tunnels." (Photo: Provided by the film crew)

The program screens 8 films including 6 feature films "Night Ride" (2000), "Living in Fear" (2005), "Adrift" (2009), "Blood Curse" (2012), "Glorious Ashes" (2022) and "Tunnels" (2025); and two documentaries " Digger" (2002), "Fearless" (2022).

His works reflect the depth of Vietnamese people, history, culture and society through personal lenses.

"Night Ride" about the fate of people who leave their homeland to make a living in the city, is often mentioned as the first great mark of director Bui Thac Chuyen when he received the third prize in the Cinéfondation category (for short films, graduation films), Cannes International Film Festival in 2000.

During the period from 2002-2005, the director had a feature film "Living in Fear" about a former soldier of the Republic of Vietnam who made a living by clearing bombs and mines - a true story he reflected in the documentary "Hands Digging the Earth."

In 2009, "Choi Voi" won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award at the Venice Film Festival. In 2022, the film "Tro tan sang" (2022), adapted from a short story by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, received the Golden Balloon (Montgolfière d'or) award at the International Film Festival of Three Continents (Festival des 3 Continents, France) for Asian, African and Latin American cinema.

Most recently in the documentary genre, director Bui Thac Chuyen made the film "Fearless" about the arduous journey of fighting COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City - one of the peaks of Vietnam during the pandemic.

With many domestic awards such as Kite, Vietnam Film Festival... director Bui Thac Chuyen not only left his mark on domestic audiences, but also contributed to bringing Vietnamese cinema closer to the world .

In addition to the feature films, two documentaries will be presented in a separate panel, discussing documentary practice – a field closely linked to the field filmmaking method that the director has always persistently pursued.

After the screening, there will be a number of professional talks and exchanges with the director and the film crew. The screenings are non-profit, and audiences can make voluntary donations to the Young Filmmakers Support Fund.

Movie showtimes (updated on TPD Center's fanpage):

August 15 – "Living in Fear" | Interview with the director and crew

August 16 – "Tunnels: Sun in the Dark" | Interview with the director

August 17 – "Night Ride" and "Blood Curse" | Interview with the director and film crew

August 20 – "Glorious Ashes" | Interview with the Director

8/21– "Night Ride" and "Blood Curse"

August 22 – "Tunnel: Sun in the Dark" | Interview with the director

August 23 – "Adrift" | Interaction with the director and film crew

24/8 – "Tunnel: Sun in the Darkness."

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tuan-phim-bui-thac-chuyen-tu-giai-thuong-lhp-cannes-den-con-sot-dia-dao-post1053509.vnp