HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese fantasy film Maika - Co be đến từ hanh tinh khac directed by Ham Trần will represent the country at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Maika – Co be đến từ hanh tinh khac (Maika – The Girl From Another Planet) is a co-production between the Cinema Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) and BHD Company and other production partners.

The cinematographic work tells the story of Hung, a boy whose mother passes away from a serious illness. The loneliness of losing his mother causes Hung to become withdrawn until he met Maika – a girl from another planet who wants to find friends on Earth. Maika helps Hung find the joy he should have at his age.

According to director Ham Trần, this meaningful story is the reason why he decided to participate in the film project.

The director also shared that he himself had lost his mother more than three years ago. At that time, he accepted an invitation to direct the film from BHD after feeling his connection with the character Hung.

The little girl Maika in the film is inspired by the main character of the same name in the television series "The girl who fell from the sky", a 1978 Czechoslovak children's film.

This series aired in Viet Nam in the 1980s and created a great resonance, making “Maika” a special name in the memory of many Vietnamese generation.

Ham Trần, 47, is Vietnamese-American. He entered the film industry as a director, film producer, screenwriter and film editor. When he returned to Viet Nam, he has attracted the public's attention with many works such as Âm mưu giay gót nhọn (How to fight in six inch heels), Sieu trom (Super Thief), and Bạn gai toi la sếp (My Girlfriend is the Boss).

The Sundance Film Festival was first held back in 1978 and has since grown to become one of the largest film festivals in the world.

The upcoming Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 20 to 30, 2022. This year, the festival received nearly 15,000 projects globally, of which only about 4,000 were movies, half of which came from countries outside the US.

After many rounds of selection, 82 films from 28 countries were officially selected. This year, the representatives of Southeast Asia appearing at this event are only Viet Nam and Philippines. — VNS