Vietnamese movie "Father and Son" to compete at Tallinn Black Nights Festival

A scene from the film Father and Son

The festival is scheduled to be held in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia from November 17 to December 3.

Father and Son is an independent movie adapted from Dung’s short story of the same name, written in 1995. The movie will compete against other foreign films from all over the world in 17 categories.

The main character in the movie is a little boy named Ca. He lives with his blind father, who has spent his entire life by the river.

Ca’s world revolves around the river and everything associated with it, including the animals, flowers and the wooden fish his father carved for him.

Ca dreams of one day touching the clouds in the sky and visiting fancy lands like in the fairy tales told by his father.

However, Ca suffers from an incurable disease and cannot wait for the day his father has enough money to take him to the doctor.

The film has recently won a number of prizes at prestigious international film festivals such as Best Narrative Feature Film at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival; Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the 6th USA Independent Film Festival

First held in 1997, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has grown into one of the biggest film festivals in Northern Europe and busiest regional industry platforms, hosting more than 1000 international guests, screening around 250 feature films and more than 300 shorts and animations. The film festival receives an attendance of 80,000 people annually.

PÖFF’s programme philosophy strives for cultural and genre diversity and dynamism, showcasing established filmmakers and masters alongside newcomers with films coming from around 70 different countries. The festival belongs to the so-called A-category, a selection of the 15 top festivals in the world (including Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, Shanghai, Tokyo etc.) with the privilege of running international competition programmes.