Vietnam indie flick about pregnant teen wins 3 awards at Swiss film fest

Vietnamese director Nguyen Hoang Diep (R) receives her award from a jury member of the Fribourg International Film Festival on March 28. Photo courtesy by Vu Hoang Diep

Vietnamese female director Nguyen Hoang Diep said she has dreamed of bringing her debut feature “Flapping in the middle of nowhere” to the Fribourg Festival ever since it was still a screenplay draft.

“When I met Fribourg Festival’s director Thierry Jobin in Busan three years ago, I promised him that I would be “flapping” my wings to bring the film to Fribourg someday,” said Diep at the award ceremony on March 28.

“But I had never dreamed of three awards.”

Her bold indie feature, which had earlier claimed many awards at international festivals in Italy, France, Slovakia, and Hanoi, won the Youth Jury and the Exchange Award, the Special Mention of International Jury, and The Ecumenical Jury Award at the Swiss festival.

A scene from “Flapping in the middle of nowhere” by Vietnamese female director Nguyen Hoang Diep

“Tonight I give you another promise, about a new film that I will bring here to you when we meet again soon,” said Diep to the Fribourg audience.

The film tells the story of Huyen, a pregnant teenager who turns to escort work to earn money for an abortion.

After leaving her rural village to attend college in Hanoi, Huyen has a romantic relationship with Tung, a street-lamp repairman addicted to cock fighting.

As Tung flees his home to escape debts, Huyen reluctantly works as an escort for cash, only to find herself falling in love with Hoang, a client with a fetish for pregnant women.

The 29th Fribourg Festival, which started on March 29, has lured more than 40,000 film lovers to the screenings of 150 films from 157 countries.

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