Vietnamese movie "2030" named best film at US festival

The movie is a science-fiction thriller set in the near future in southern Viet Nam, where global warming has affected the people.

"Sea levels are rising in southern Viet Nam, caused by global climate change, and the threat is damaging and changing the lives of poor people in particular," director Minh said.

The movie is set in the 2030s in Viet Nam when the water levels have risen due to climate change, causing as much as half the farmland to be submerged.

People have to live on houseboats and deal with a depleting fish supply. Huge multinational conglomerates compete to build floating farms to produce the needed vegetables that have become highly priced commodities.

The movie 2030 follows a young woman in her journey to find the truth about floating farms. She ends up finding different truths about her husband's death and has to make a dramatic decision.

The movie was shot in 10 weeks in Vung Tau and Can Gio with a limited budget of US$400,000. The director himself had to dive to shoot underwater when the money ran out.

Minh was born in Viet Nam in 1956. He studied in France, and then moved to the US. He worked as a physicist before embarking on his filmmaking career.

His directorial debut, entitled Mua Len Trau (Buffalo Boy), was Viet Nam's entry at the 2006 Academy Awards and was also the official selection in more than 50 festivals, such as Toronto, Rotterdam, Palm Springs and Locarno, besides Chicago and Busan.

2030 was screened to open Berlin International Film Festival's panorama section this year.

"Though climatic changes have caused increasing concern worldwide, the issue is yet to get its due attention in several places, including Viet Nam. I hope my film helps to raise an alarm among such communities," Minh said.

The San Pedro International Film Festival was held from October 9 to 11. Other awards were also presented there, such as for best documentary, best short film, best animation and best horror film.