On November 29, 37 Japanese artists, directors, cameramen and technicians held a talk with the 12 Vietnamese artists taking part in the film.
The movie script is based on the story by Japanese writer Miyuki Komatsu, of Shaso Misao, a single 60 year-old Japanese teacher in Hanoi. She lives with her mother Sasho Shizue, an 82 year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease, in a rented flat on an ancient street of Hanoi.
Shizue meets friends of the landlord and Misao. Most of them are at middle-aged or older and many work for a ‘cheo’ (Vietnamese traditional singing) theatre opposite the rented flat. Shizue also meets Japanese in the country, who are fond of land and people of Vietnam. Thanks to her sincere meetings with others, Shizue’s condition gets better. In Vietnam, Misao also meets Koizumi Tamio, her old classmate who used to be in love with her.
Misao spares no efforts to teach Japanese to the Vietnamese, conveying her love of Japan and its culture to her students through Japanese songs about her country. She helps a Japanese-Vietnamese family reunite.
Shizue and her daughter also help an old ‘cheo’ artist to recover her memory after an honourary performance. They finally decide to stay in Vietnam.
The film’s production is scheduled to last until December 21 in Hanoi, Hoa Binh and Ninh Binh provinces.
