Overseas Vietnamese are subjects of film series

The latest stories about the lives of Vietnamese expatriates will be retold in a multi-episode documentary film by the Ho Chi Minh City Television Film Studio, with plans to broadcast the programme on the city’s TV channel HTV7 early this year.

“The diversity of the overseas Vietnamese (OV) community living around the world has encouraged us to make the film series, and we hope they will act as a bridge to connect all Vietnamese people worldwide,” the film’s general director Ly Quang Trung said.

“Nguoi Viet xa xu” (Vietnamese Expatriates) is the film studio’s longest chronicle film and includes 240 episodes. Production started four years ago.

Six working groups, each with seven members, travelled to many countries in the world where Vietnamese people are living to record their daily life, including their activities to maintain traditional customs, as well their wishes to make contributions to the homeland.

“Each country where Vietnamese people are living will tell an exciting story about the culture and history of the Vietnamese community,” Trung said.

Despite difficulties in climate and working conditions, film makers have tried their best to bring the film to public in the hope that the series will act as a bridge to connect local people and Vietnamese expatriates, Trung further said.

Apart from the multi-episode film on OV, Vietnamese television stations, such as Ho Chi Minh City television HTV and VTV4 channel of Vietnam Television have made a number of programmes retelling the lives of Vietnamese around the world.

There are about four million Vietnamese people living and studying in 100 countries and territories worldwide who are considered as an indispensable part of the nation

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The reality of living with HIV

Speaking for themselves: The exhibition allows visitors to listen to people with HIV tell their own stories. — VNS/Photo

HA NOI — The exhibition Pain and Hope tells the stories of people living with HIV and is one of ten national events being held this year to mark the 20 years since the first case of HIV/AIDS case was diagnosed in Viet Nam.

Since that time, public awareness and education about HIV education have increased considerably, but this was the first time the HIV epidemic has been approached from the perspective of a museum exhibition, said museum director Vo Quang Trong.

"The exhibition aims to encourage wide discussions in society about the HIV epidemic and related issues and create an opportunity for people living with HIV and people working in HIV prevention to share and exchange experiences and professional knowledge, as well as to look back at the response to AIDS by people living with HIV, the Government, and society as a whole in the past 20 years," said Trong.

Through the images and voices of health officers, journalists, volunteers, religious organisations, scientists, and people living with HIV, the exhibition uses the museum language to guide visitors through different stages of emotion experienced by people living with HIV and those working in HIV prevention, he said.

"This is extremely difficult work, but the lessons of the world can't be applied in Viet Nam," said Nguyen Thi Hue from HCM City's AIDS Prevention Committee. "Although peer models are very successful, it depends on the culture of each country. We took things step-by-step. At first, I simply had to obey what my organisation was telling me. Then I began to understand and sympathise with the people."

Materials for this exhibition were gathered from three research sites in the northern city of Hai Phong, the northern province of Dien Bien and HCM City. Materials also came from organisations and individuals in Ha Noi, the northern province of Ninh Binh, the central province of Quang Binh and the southern province of An Giang.

The resulting exhibition has been arranged into sections entitled Pain, Stigma, Will to Live, Joint Forces and Grateful Hearts.

Nguyen Thi Khuyen, 13, a girl from HCM City who lost her mother to AIDS, spoke about her plastic piggy bank displayed in the exhibition.

"My adoptive mother sometimes gives me money to put in a piggy bank, so I take the money out once a year and buy offerings on the anniversary of my mother's death," Khuyen said.

Visitors to the exhibition have left many messages in a guestbook for those afflicted with HIV.

"You are very courageous that you can face the stigma and society's prejudice," wrote one visitor. "Be patient and strong to show how valuable you are."

The exhibition, co-sponsored by the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology and the Centre for Community Health Research and Development, runs through June of next year.

During the event, the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology is also holding ongoing educational activities and events for young visitors to help them experience the exhibition space and more fully understand the HIV epidemic in Viet Nam. — VNS

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