Vietnamese movie to compete at Berlin Film Festival 2024

Vietnamese movie "Cu Li khong bao gio khoc" (Cu Li never cries) by director Pham Ngoc Lan will compete in the Panorama category at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), which will take place from February 15-24.

The movie marks the fourth time Vietnam has competed at this prestigious festival. This is also the second work of Pham Ngoc Lan at the annual festival, after the movie “A good land” which competed in the short film category in 2019.

“Cu li never cries” has been cherished by Lan since 2017 and developed over a long period of time. Two producers, Nghiem Quynh Trang and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc who are also producers of "Bi, don't be afraid!" and "Brilliant ashes" movies, supported the project. Director Phan Dang Di participated in the crew as an artistic creator.

In the film, Lady M., a blue-collar retiree in Vietnam, returns to Berlin when she learns that her estranged German husband has died. The legacy her husband has left her is an urne with his ashes and Cu Li, his pet pygmy slow Loris (a primate found primarily in Southeast Asia). Upon returning to Vietnam, Lady M. finds that her pregnant niece Van is rushing into marriage, and fears that she will make the same life mistakes as she did. Lady M. proceeds to embark upon a journey retracing her memories, evoking Vietnam’s storied past.

Pham Ngoc Lan was born in 1986, before moving on to make his first feature-length film 'Cu Li never cries', he worked hard on short films. Next to Another good land", Another city, short film The river is not visible. His work received the Asino d'Oro (Golden Donkey) award in 2020 within the framework of the international short film festival Concorto, Italy.

Established in 1951, the Berlin International Film Festival is considered one of the three largest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, on par with Italy's Venice Film Festival (1932) and France's Cannes (1946).