SINGAPORE – The Vietnamese horror comedy Don’t Cry, Butterfly won two awards at the recently concluded Venice International Film Festival.
The accolades, announced on Sept 7 (Singapore time), are in the 39th Settimana Internazionale della Critica or International Film Critics’ Week, a parallel and competitive section at the main festival.
Written and directed by Vietnamese film-maker Duong Dieu Linh, the film held its world premiere at Venice Critics’ Week. It was presented with the section’s top prize for Best Film and the Verona Film Club Award for Most Innovative Film.
Don’t Cry, Butterfly is Linh’s debut feature. Produced by Tan Si En of Singapore-based Momo Film Co, it was the sole Asian title in this year’s Critics’ Week line-up.
The film is a Vietnam-Singapore-Philippines-Indonesia co-production, and stars Le Tu Oanh, Nguyen Nam Linh, Le Vu Long and Bui Thac Phong.
The story follows a wedding venue member of staff who discovers her husband’s infidelity on live TV. She resorts to voodoo to win back his love, leading to unwanted supernatural consequences.
In a press statement, Tan expressed her gratitude to Venice Critics’ Week and the jury for recognising the film. She said it was “an immense honour” and “can’t wait for more people to witness Linh’s talent”.
Don’t Cry, Butterfly was supported by the Singapore Film Commission, part of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), through the Southeast Asia Co-production Grant. It is slated to open in Singapore cinemas at the end of 2024 or in early 2025.
Mr Justin Ang, assistant chief executive of media, innovation, communications and marketing at the IMDA, congratulated the team.
“We are so proud of Si En and her team. This is a huge validation of our exceptional film-making talent who have demonstrated their ability to compete at the highest level,” he said.
