Vietnamese movies chosen for Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Project Market

Two Vietnamese movies entitled 'Memento Mori: Water' and 'If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood' have been chosen amongst the 26 official selections for the Asian Project Market as part of the 2021 Busan International Film Festival, according to a recent announcement of the film fest on its website.

Poster of the film 'Memento Mori: Water'
Poster of the film 'Memento Mori: Water'

‘Memento Mori: Water’ is the second movie in the trilogy ‘Memento Mori the Movie’ scripted and directed by Marcus Manh Cuong Vu. Launched in 2019, the series is inspired by a true story from the ‘Destination of life’ book by Vietnamese author Dang Hoang Giang.

Co-produced by Nguyen Hoang Diep and Nguyen Trinh Hoan, ‘Memento Mori: Water’ tells the tale of Ha, a young mother whose son has bone cancer during their last days at hospital. This period of time brings Ha both pain and moments of happiness, humanity, sympathy, sharing and enlightenment.

The film is currently in pre-production and is expected to start filming in 2022, before premiering in 2023.

The two other movies in the series, ‘Memento Mori: Fire’ and ‘Memento Mori: Earth’ also feature journeys involving death and finding the true meaning of life. Set against different backgrounds, the three films will explore relationships within the family, such as motherhood, brotherhood, and husband-and-wife.

According to director Marcus Manh Cuong Vu, his film project being introduced at APM Busan is a ‘dream come true’ for him as it will help to advertise the film to the world.

For her part, the film’s producer Nguyen Hoang Diep described it is a promising start for the film, expressing her belief that the project will attract much interest from investors.

Meanwhile, ‘If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood’ is the first project of young female director Nguyen Phan Linh Dan, who once attended the 2019 Busan Film Festival as the director of photography for the film ‘The Secret of the Wind’ by director Nguyen Phan Quang Binh.

The 24th Asian Project Market will be held virtually from October 12 to 14, featuring 26 film projects selected from a total of 429 entries submitted globally.