Biography
People's Artist Nguyễn Hồng Sến (1933-1995) was a Vietnamese film director, best known for his films about the Vietnam War. He was born in Moc Hoa, Long An province. After 1954, he went to North Vietnamese and attended the first cinematography class of the Vietnam Film School. The first film he made is a documentary, "Nước về Bắc Hưng Hải" (Water Flows to North Hung Hai), winning the Gold Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1959. Nguyễn continued to make other films, such as "Lửa trung tuyến" (Fire of the Middle Zone), "Kim Đồng"..., before returning to South Vietnam in 1964.
After a number of films reporting on the war, Nguyễn directed "Đường ra phía trước"/The Way Forward (he credited himself as Hồng Chi), documenting the activities of a public transport convoy serving the battlefield in the Dong Thap Muoi area of Vietnam. This film won the Gold Medal at the 1969 Moscow International Film Festival and the Golden Lotus Award at the 1973 Vietnam Film Festival. After 1975, he had a short internship in Bulgaria and the German Democratic Republic, then returned to Vietnam to direct his first feature film "Mùa gió chướng" (The Windy Season). The film received the Silver Lotus award at the 1980 Vietnam Film Festival. At the same festival, his second feature film "Cánh đồng hoang" (The Abandoned Zone: Free Fire Area), about the difficult life of a couple with a small child in the Dong Thap Muoi area during the Vietnam War, received the Golden Lotus award. "Cánh Đồng Hoang" would go on to win the First Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival, 1981. Nguyễn Hồng Sến was awarded the title of the People's Artist in 1984. He died in 1995 of a serious illness.
