Rom was the first Vietnamese film to win the New Currents award, the highest prize at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Because of its enormous success, the Mzung Space Cultural Center held a series of “Rom Talks” events around Vietnam, to enable university students to meet and discuss the film with its producers.
On October 17, the makers of Rom visited DTU to reveal many interesting aspects of the making of Rom at an event entitled: “Behind the Scenes and Untold Stories”.
Director Tran Thanh Huy
The film’s director Tran Thanh Huy, the rapper Wowy, actor Anh Tu Wilson and several members of the film crew came, and many DTU students with a passion for cinematography attended. Director Tran Thanh Huy needed eight years to go from an initial concept to the completion of the film. This is why Rom arouses millions of viewers in Vietnam and worldwide, vividly transmitting the breath of life with stunning close-ups.
A lively performance by rapper Wowy
The visitors showed behind-the-scenes footage, impressive pictures of the actors and difficulties encountered during production. Talking about his commitment to Rom, director Huy explained that the eight years of production was not important, just how the film was completed. Rom was made while he was still young, dedicated to pursuing his ambition and willing to make sacrifices to complete it.
Exhibiting the movie at the Busan International Film Festival was a long struggle internationally, with strong competition from other more developed countries and all the convoluted paperwork required to sign up for the contest. By good fortune, Rom won the New Currents award, the highest at the festival. When they heard the news, the entire film crew burst into tears of joy and happiness.
Rom was developed by Huy from his short 16h30 film, which won the Golden Kite award in 2012 and was screened at the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. It is based on the misfortunes of street children. In one scene, the film depicts the strife between two children and a chase from cramped alleyways to bustling boulevards. Tran Anh Khoa plays the role of Rom, a young boy who is running a lottery ticket business in the back streets, as a middleman picking tickets for his needy clients, his neighbors in the slums. His job is quite difficult because he has to compete for commission with his arch-rival, Phuc, played by Anh Tu Wilson, and, at the same time deal with his angry clients when they lose. The two of them compete to earn a living and fend for themselves in a world of hoodlums, living in the strange but familiar world of the poor working-class in modern society.
Rapper Wowy’s lively and joyful performance at the event was also well received and we hope in the near future that that the Vietnamese cinema will continue to win major international awards with down-to-earth movies like Rom.
(Media Center)