An exciting gathering for Vietnamese doc-heads that turns 9 this year, the European-Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival (organised by European Union National Institutes for Culture in partnership with the National Studio for Documentary and Scientific Film) returns this year from 8 to 16 June, in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
As part of the festival, the British Council is pleased to present the Vietnam premieres for the BBC-produced Imagine: Theatre of war'(Grierson Awards 2013’s Best Arts Documentary nominee).
From rehearsal room to triumphant performance, Imagine: Theatre of war follows the extraordinary theatrical production of The Two Worlds of Charlie F. Professional front-line soldiers, all of whom have sustained injury ranging from amputation to post-traumatic stress, join forces with a professional theatre company to help write, rehearse and perform a play based on their experiences of war in the killing fields of Afghanistan. What happened when they swapped the theatre of war for the London stage?
A wonderful film that concentrated on the process of creation as much as on the soldiers' stories and in doing so protected the dignity of everyone involved. Instead of taking the easy, emotionally manipulative route, it invited us in to wonder at the power of human beings to transform and transcend their suffering, and at the power and the refuge offered by art. (The Guardian)
How do you drag the shattered bone, flesh and pain of Afghanistan into a world untouched by the carnage of war? [The film] followed a group of ex-soldiers as they struggled to cope with dress rehearsals, angry producers and bodies and minds that had been smashed hard by Taliban IEDs. (Disability Arts Online)
Imagine: theatre of war (UK, 2012, 89’)
Director: Chris Terrill
Languages: English, with Vietnamese subtitles
Hanoi
19.00, 11 June 2018
National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio
465 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Tay Ho District
HCMC
19.00, 11 June 2013
Hoa Sen University
8 Nguyen Van Trang, District 1
Note: Regarding the decision number 113/QD-DA of the Cinema Department on the introduction of foreign movies to Vietnam, ‘Imagine: Theatre of War’ is labelled C16 – Persons under the age 16 will not be admitted.