task at the best of times, but for members of a mobile film-screening
team based in HCM City , it is a full-time job.
"People usually come early to the film shows, sit on the ground to
watch, and stay until late," Vu Trong Tuan, a member of the three-strong
team, says.
"Their enthusiasm is our main source of encouragement."
The screenings are arranged by the State-owned Saigon Cinema Corporation for whom Tuan has been working for 35 years.
Documentary and feature films on the struggle for liberation, like
Duong Ve Que Me (Travelling Back to Native Land) and Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay Va
Dem (The 17th Parallel, Days and Nights), and cartoons are the most
commonly screened.
The team goes on its mission come
rain or shine. Planning a trip sometimes takes time, especially when it
is to a place that does not have electricity and generators are
required.
Once there, however, the crew will stay for a week.
"The team has a jeep. But many times we go on motorbikes to villages surrounded by mountains and forests," Tuan says.
"Often we have to wade through knee-deep brooks that cross muddy roads.
"We can get wet when it rains but our projector, films, and other equipment must be carefully protected."
Many times the team arrives late in the afternoon. "We may not have
time for dinner. But we must prepare for the film show quickly because
people are waiting," he says.
"We work forgetting
our hardship because the viewers get so much enjoyment from it and
because we are warmly received," Dang To Ha, the head of the team, says.
Ha has also worked for 35 years.
The films are usually screened in the yards of schools and
administrative offices or meeting places for the region's various ethnic
peoples.
The audience usually arrives several hours
before the show's 7pm start. Often, the shows last past midnight as
viewers ask for more screenings.
"Many poor ethnic
people in remote areas in the Central Highlands may never see films," he
says, adding it is moving when people inquire when the team will be
back.
Since 2006 alone the team has shown more than
400 cartoons, feature films, and documentaries to audiences totalling
over 300,000.
It has received many certificates of commendation from HCM City authorities for its efforts./.
