Nguyen Ngoc Thao Ly, Recordie Team, Light Up Team, and 7Plus team were the names called out on the award ceremony of the film competition themed 8 Hours of Fulfillment that took place on 22 April 2019 in BHD cinema in Hanoi. CARE hosted this competition as part of the Australian-funded project Improving Gender Equality in the revised Labour Code via the Investing in Women Initiative.
The filmmakers respectively won the Best Short Documentary Award for Our Song movie; the Best Short Fiction Award for The Intern; the Best Message Award for Ly; and Viewers’ Choice Award for Please, listen.
“What made a smile of a woman? What made the smile of a woman who has suffered that much injustice in her work, and who has to do all housework for both her husband and son? The movie is a modest story of a garment women worker’s journey looking for joy in her life,” – Nguyen Ngoc Thao Ly, winner of the Best Short Documentary Award, said so about her movie.
The competition was an effort to identify and raise our voice about stereotypes hindering equal participation of workers, regardless of gender, in the workplace. By doing so, organisers hope everyone will have “8 hours of fulfillment” at work, where they are kept safe and their contributions are justly recognized. Twenty four entries by a wide range of competitors, from high school students to professional filmmakers, covered the the various sides of gender inequality.
Nguyen Xuan Thanh of 7Plus Team in Ha Tinh. With 888 votes, their movie won the Viewers’ Choice Award worth 20 million VND
The entries partly show how gender stereotypes affects people who work, whether that is a garment worker, an office intern, a bar attendant, or a self-employed woman. We saw in the movies stereotypes of the role and capacity of women, which are not always visible to a tragic level, yet intertwined, complex, and silently hurting workers. We also saw that the response to such stereotypes is usually silent, with workers, especially women, preparing themselves for harassment and unfair treatment becoming a normal reaction.
“We consider the competition a catalyst, and hope that the authors continue to care about this topic in their work and life beyond the competition,” – said Ms. Le Kim Dung, Country Director of CARE International in Vietnam, at the ceremony. On this occasion, Ms. Dung also acknowledged the crucial support for the competition by the Australian government via the Investing in Women Initiative and the co-organisation by TPD Center and Tuva Communication.
Take a look at the award ceremony with photos taken by Le Minh Duc of Tuva Communication.
Light Up Team (movie: Ly) hoped each of us would recognise part of us in Ly’s story.
Ms. Than Thi Thien Huong, member of the jury, gender specialist at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, handed the cup for Best Short Fiction Award winner, Recordie Team.
Nguyễn Ngọc Thảo Ly was caught by surprise and joy when her movie, Our Song, was announced the Best Documentary