Former French Ambassador Hanoi doc to be screened

The 52-minute film is a journey through many corners of Hanoi, with interesting insights into the capital's culture, food, architecture, traffic and people discovered by the diplomat.

The voice-over in Vietnamese was by Jean Noel Poirier himself, who has learned the language since he was 20. The film is a gift from former French ambassador Jean-Noel Poirier to the country that he feels is his second home.

“Unlike many other movies about Hà Nội, which depict the city as a tourist spot with iconic buildings and attractions, I want to stress that Mon Hà Nội reflects my look and my observations about Hà Nội,” Jean Noel Poirier said in fluent Vietnamese.

Asked why he decided to produce a movie instead of writing a memoir like many others, he said that a movie with vivid scenes and images is easily accessible to more people.

“In addition, I am lucky to have a movie director right in my family. My older brother Henri-Louis Poirier is the one who accompanied me during the movie-making process of more than one year,” he said.

Among the first few people to see the movie, Chief of the VTV Secretariat and Editorial Board Nguyễn Hà Nam said: “I was amazed by the movie that reflects the sophisticated observations of the producer – former ambassador Poirier. To produce such an interesting production, he definitely has a special love for Hà Nội. I’m sure that not every Hanoian can have such refined observations on the city where they were born and grow up.”

Jean Noel Poirier lived in Vietnam for 10 years, during which he worked for one term as a Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City and another as the French ambassador in Hanoi (2012 - 2016).