Workshops in Viêtnam

To be able to register some of the new situations in an evolving Vietnamese society, Ateliers Varan set up a documentary film workshop programme in partnership with the Hanoi National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio to encourage the emergence of a new generation of documentary filmmakers.

In 2004, 9 films were made during a first workshop programme organised in Hanoï. In 2005, a similar experience took place in the south of Vietnam, with the creation of a workshop in Hô Chi Minh City. 9 films were made.

In 2006, in Hanoi, a Master Class course was held on the theme of “youth” with all the trainees from the first course in Hanoï, from the first course in Hô Chi Minh City and some new participants. They directed 10 films.

In 2008/2009 the experience was continued and consolidated around the common theme “What do we believe in?” with a group of former trainees and new participants, engaged in directing and editing. The project, supported principally by the Ford Foundation, also received help from the French Embassy, UNESCO and the French Region of Nord-Pas de Calais.

The Goethe Institute has also been part of the project since 2009. Most of these films have been widely broadcast in Vietnam and throughout the world. Some have received awards at international festivals.

In 2010 and 2011, two courses, one for beginners and one for advanced students, took place in Da Nang. And from 2012, the workshop structure went independent and a core of former trainees from different towns set up a company for production, distribution and training, Varan Vietnam, which has co-produced a number of feature films, including «Le dernier voyage de Mme. Phung », (Mme. Phung’s Last Journey) ; « Si près si loin, la forêt des ancêtres" (The Forest of our Ancestors, so close yet so far away) ; « Mon père, le dernier des communistes » (My Father, the last of the Communists) ; « Finding Phong », « Mon Père... » (My father).

In 2016, the first autonomous workshop programme took place, directed by former trainees who have now become independent filmmakers.

In 2018, a course will be held on the subject of urban planning in the Mekong Delta and in Hô Chi Minh City, in partnership with the Hoa Sen University, the BKU Polytechnical School and the Strasburg School of Archicture, ENSAS.

In 2020, despite the covid-19 pandemic, a workshop is held on environmental issues in the Mekong delta, in partnership with Varan Vietnam, and thanks to the support of CFI and the Solidev label from the City of Paris. Vietnamese trainers run the workshop on their own, with remote support from French trainers. Ten young filmmakers are trained and each makes a short documentary film.

In 2024, to mark the 20th anniversary of the organization of the first Varan workshop in Vietnam, a 12-week workshop is organized in Hanoi. Focusing on the theme of health, the workshop brought together 8 participants from Hanoi, Hochiminh City and Quang Nam. This workshop is part of a documentary program organized by Varan Vietnam in 2024-2025, supported by CFI and the French Embassy in Vietnam.