After winning at the Berlin Film Festival, Cu Li Never Cries by Hanoi-based director Pham Ngoc Lan will be screened in Vietnam starting November 15.

According to director Pham Ngoc Lan, the film crew will set up a special 120-seat screening room for the audience with disabilities.

A scene from the movie. Photo courtesy of producer

Director Pham Ngoc Lan said he has seen the artistic originality and potential for involvement of people with disabilities. They are someone he and his staff want to meet and get to know. Lan portrays people with disabilities as having ordinary beauty in the story Cu Li Never Cries. For the filmmaker, this is a way to fulfill the social responsibility of an artist and a creative person.

The film crew also made an additional Vietnamese-subtitled version of the production, alongside the previous English-subtitled version.

The plot revolves around a middle-aged woman named Nguyen, played by People's Artist Minh Chau. After picking up the ashes of her long-estranged husband in Germany, Nguyen returns to her home in Vietnam. In her luggage is a pygmy slow loris, a species of primate from the Vietnamese rainforest, which she inherited from the deceased. The woman's young niece, who lives with her, is preparing for her wedding. 

The young couple anxiously ponders their uncertain future together. The present in which the characters live and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history intertwine in a contemplative and poetic way.

The film won the Best First Feature from the Society for the Management of Film and Television Rights (GWFF) at the Berlin Film Festival in February. This is the first time a Vietnamese film has won in this category.

To date, the film has been submitted to 18 film festivals, won five awards and is expected to be screened at more than 10 other prestigious film events by the end of 2024.

People's Artist Minh Chau presents at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Photo courtesy of film producer

"The Berlin premiere of the movie evoked a lot of nice feelings in us. However, I believe that the underlying cultural allusions of the film were not fully understood by international audiences. Cu Li Never Cries was meant for Vietnamese audiences from the very beginning. I hope that the Vietnamese people will be receptive to our movie and a variety of other new cinematic genres that they are not used to seeing.  I also hope that people won't label the films in the festival as difficult to watch," Lan said.

Cineneuropa critic Susanne Gottlieb commented that the film brings a new perspective on Vietnamese society, creating a thoughtful reflection on the changes of the times.

In The Film Verdict, writer Clarence Tsui noted that the film is attractive and beautiful, depicting the nostalgia of a retired woman and the uncertainty of a young couple's future. He also praised the performances of the actors.

Before the debut feature film Cu Li Never Cries, Lan directed some short films including The Story of Ones (2011); Another City (2016); Blessed Land (2019); The Unseen River (2020). His short films Another City and Blessed Land were screened at the Berlin Film Festival.