A group of Vietnamese high school students have taken home the Excellent Prize from the Asian International Children’s Film Festival 2019 in Japan with a moving film about friendship.

The Asian International Children’s Film Festival, which was in its 13th edition this year, has been organized annually since 2007 to promote friendship and goodwill among Asian youths through filmmaking.

With the theme of “How do you feel about causing others trouble? Is it okay if only you are good? Can you think about other people?” this year’s festival took place in Minamiawaji City, Hyogo, Japan.

From a pool of more than 400 films submitted to the event by student groups from 15 Asian countries and territories and ten Japanese prefectures and cities, 69 final works were chosen for the festival in Japan.

Three 12th graders from Viet Duc High School in Hanoi sent their entry, ‘The To-Do List,’ to the competition and won the Excellent Prize, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said on Monday.

‘The To-Do List’ tells the story of two friends, Dang and Hai, with the latter unfortunately suffering from a terminal illness with limited time left.

Hai lists the places he wants to visit on a piece of paper, which Dang comes across.

Dang thus voluntarily pushes Hai in a wheelchair to those places day by day until Hai’s mother stops them from doing so, as she has misunderstood that Dang bothered her son.

It is not until Hai has passed away that the mother finds out the truth by chance and regrets that she has interrupted Hai’s very last wish.

The film was highly appreciated by the board of judges at the festival.

“The movie gave the audience a touching experience about simple things in life as the students expressed the theme ‘causing others trouble’ in a humanitarian and creative way,” the Hanoi Department of Education and Training quoted Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama as saying at the closing of the festival.

Three other entries also won the Excellent Prize while the film ‘Juvenile Correction Center’ by a group of Japanese students claimed the Grand Prize.

In addition, eight consolation prizes were presented to eight other student groups.

The Asian International Children’s Film Festival was launched as a platform for creative interaction and cultural exchange among young filmmakers from Japan, East Asia, and Southeast Asia by allowing them to share their thoughts on certain universal topics through short films.

It is organized under the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths 2018 (JENESYS2018) Program, which aims to strengthen international relations among the youths of Asia by facilitating various cultural and academic exchanges.

All expenses incurred in relation to this event are borne by the government of Japan in an effort to promote friendship among the youths of Japan and Southeast Asia.

It has continuously fostered international relations among the youths through various cultural and academic exchanges since 2007.

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