Poster of this year’s UK Film Festival, which highlights comedies
Five British comedies will be screened in five major Vietnamese cities every day of the week starting 30 September.
An announcement from the British Council Vietnam says the films, including Local Hero (1983), A Private Function (1984) and the Witches (2004), will be shown at the Megastar Cineplexes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. In Can Tho City, the films will be screened at the Ninh Kieu Cinema. For the first time, outdoor showings will be organized in the rural district of Hoa Vang, Da Nang.
Hoa Vang residents will be treated to Mr Bean’s Back to School and the award-winning animation film Lost and Found.
Chris Brown, Country Director, British Council Vietnam said: “This year we will celebrate British comedies. The UK has a Great tradition of comedy – it is fun and carries some powerful messages at the same time. So do come and enjoy the British humor.”
Produced by Lord Puttnam of Queensgate (who won the Academy Award for Chariots of Fire), Local Hero was nominated for seven BAFTA Awards including Best Film. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Direction and holds a rare 100% positive rating from top critic reviews on the film review web site Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised the film as a “perfect, magical, intelligent comedy,” a British Council press release notes.
It says “A Private Function might be the most interesting selection for the UK Film Festival this year as it depicts a stint in the UK which is very similar to the post-war era in Vietnam when eating meat was a luxury and meat smuggling was a serious crime.”
Another film that holds the rare 100% positive rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes is The Witches, starring Academy Award winning actress Anjelica Huston as the “completely uncompromised villainess.”
Four weddings and a Funeral saw Hugh Grant shoot to global fame. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and became the highest grossing British film in the cinema history then, with worldwide box office revenues in excess of 245 million dollars, the press release says.
A detailed schedule for the showings can be found at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/vietnam-art-british-film-festival-2013.jpg
The UK Film Festival 2013, to run until Oct 4, is part of the GREAT Week that seeks to showcase the best of the UK in Vietnam. All shows are free and tickets can be collected at 14.00, Sep 25 at the British Council, 20 Thuy Khue, Hanoi.