Vietnamese horror film wins five awards at US Film Festival

The horror film entitled ‘Listeners: The Whispering’ by young Vietnamese director Khoa Nguyen has scooped five prizes, including the Best Thriller, Best First Time Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenwriter at the Vegas Movie Awards in the US.

Produced in 2020, ‘Listeners: The Whispering’  won various filming awards during the past year

This is the first Vietnamese movie that delves deep into the topic of psychotherapy. It is also the debut film of director Khoa Nguyen.

The title of Best Actress went to Kieu Oanh who plays the role of writer An Nhien. Quang Su, who plays psychologist Tuong Minh, received the Best Actor Award.

The movie is about a psychologist, Tuong Minh who provides psychotherapy to An Nhien, a young female writer suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Nhien states that she’s obsessed with a certain girl. Strangely, the girl she mentioned is the main character in her first novel, The Whispering.

Through the treatment and study of her novel, Tuong Minh gradually realizes that what Nhien wrote in her book is not fictitious, but her real sorrowful memories.

However, during the treatment, Minh steadily immerses himself in Nhien’s story and her obsession. The obsession, which becomes more serious, makes him confused and almost insane. Though he denies his psychological disorder, the increasing obsession causes him to kill himself unconsciously.

Director Khoa Nguyen said that the movie of ‘Listeners: The Whispering’ was produced in 2020 and was planned to be released in March this year. However, it was postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19. So far, the film has not been screened in any Vietnamese cinemas.

A scene from the movie

“Thanks to its interesting subject matter, the movie had gained quite a few filming awards during the past time. It deals with one thing that worries everyone in modern life: the psychological health,” Khoa said.

“With its remarkable achievements, I hope that the film will receive the attention of Vietnamese audiences. Conquering domestic audiences is still our main goal,” he added.

According to actress Kieu Oanh, playing the role of An Nhien was a great challenge for her. As the character has complex psychology, she had to show diversity in each gesture, action, word, and look.

The film will be released as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic is under control in Vietnam.

The US Vegas Movie Awards is a prestigious International Film Festival for filmmakers and screenwriters looking for global recognition and exposure, based in one of the most dynamic and classy cities in the world.

Earlier this month, ‘Listeners: The Whispering’ won three awards at Asia Film Art International Film Festival (AFAIFF). The movie was also crowned best feature film with a budget under US$250,000 at the International New York Film Festival 2021.