"Hanoi 12 days and nights" film's director passes away

Film director People’s Artist Bui Dinh Hac (with glasses) (A file photo)

Hac was born in 1934 in the Northern province of Phu Tho. He started working in the film industry in 1953 in the Viet Bac (Northern Vietnam) Base during the resistance war against the French colonials. He belonged to the first generation who laid the first bricks for the Vietnamese Revolutionary Cinema. After graduating from Hanoi Academy of Theater and Cinema, he continued to study in Russia.

His first work was the documentary film "Water to Bac Hung Hai" (1959) that was made when he was only 25 years old. The film won the Gold Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, making it the first Vietnamese movie to be awarded a gold award at an international festival.

In his 50-year career, Hac made both documentaries and feature films. He produced famous films including “Nguyen Van Troi lives forever" (1964), "Nguyen Van Troi" (1966), "The way to the motherland" (1971), "Saigon in May 1975" (1975), "A song for Uncle Ho" (1978), "Nguyen Ai Quoc came to Lenin" (1979), "Road to the Fatherland" (1980), and "Ho Chi Minh – A portrait" (1989).

From 2002 to 2005, his film "Hanoi 12 days and nights" produced in 2002 participated in a series of major international film festivals.

Hac received international and domestic film awards. In 1984, he was conferred the title of People's Artist by the State and in 2007, he was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Art for his seven unique cinematographic works.

He used to hold important positions, including Director of the Central Documentary Film Studio, Director of the Cinema Department, and Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Cinema Association.

Source: VNA