A biopic of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among award-winning documentaries from 11 countries being shown at an ongoing film festival in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Angela Merkel – Die Unerwartete (Angela Merkel – The Unexpected), which hit cinemas in 2017, tells the story of Chancellor Merkel's unexpected rise to power – from an East German physicist to one of the most powerful women in the world.

The biopic of the German leader is among dozens of documentaries featured at the tenth European-Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival, held from May 31 to June 9.

The ten-day festival will see 25 documentaries from Vietnam and ten European countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Israel, and Spain screened for free in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The screenings will take place at the Studio for Documentary and Scientific Film in Hanoi and at Hoa Sen University in Ho Chi Minh City.

Among the Vietnamese documentaries to be screened is Hay Nho: Ban Dang Song (Remember: You’re Alive), which recounts the story of a rural girl battling cancer.

The film won the Golden Kites Award – the national film award of Vietnam – in 2018.

One notable European film to be on the silver screen this year is Belgium’s Ni Juge, Ni Soumise (So Help Me God), which follows an eccentric Belgian judge and her behind-the-scenes journey of real-life criminal investigations.

The documentary won France’s prestigious César Award as well as Belgium’s Magritte du Cinéma Award earlier this year. 

The annual European-Vietnamese Documentary Film Festival is organized by the European Union National Institute for Culture (EUNIC) and the National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio (DSF).

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