By Thu Anh 

HCM CITY— Trại Hoa Đỏ (Red Flowers Farm), a TV series by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ, will be released on K+, a leading satellite digital television in Viet Nam, this year. 

The series is based on the novel of the same name by best-selling female writer Di Li (real name Nguyễn Dieu Linh), a pioneer in the Vietnamese detective genre in recent years. 

It includes eight episodes and featuring a series of murders in Đa Lạt City, a tourist city in Lam Đồng Province.

The film begins with the deaths of seven young women. The murders occur at different times and locations. The only thread linking the victims is a taxi, which was used by all of them before they died. 

“Trại Hoa Đỏ tells us what causes some people to have criminal minds,” said the film’s director Vietnamese-American Victor Vũ. 

To guarantee the film’s success, the producer K+Original used American director of photography Dominic Pereira, Vietnamese-American costume designer Ghia Fam, and American composer-music producer Garrett Crosby.

Director Vũ is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in the US.

He began his career in Viet Nam in 2008 after his first film in the country Chuyen Tình Xa Xu (Passport to Love) won Favourite Film at the Golden Kite Awards from the Viet Nam Cinematography Association. The romantic comedy was distributed in the US in 2009.

He has also worked on prize-winning films such as Thien Menh Anh Hung (Blood Letter), Bí Mật Thảm Đỏ (Scandal) and Mắt Biếc (Dreamy Eyes).

Thien Menh Anh Hung won the jury prize at the International Film Festival in Ha Noi in 2012. 

Bí Mật Thảm Đỏ, a work about the dark side of showbusiness, received the Golden Kite Prize for Best Director by the Viet Nam Department of Cinematography in 2013.

His two thrillers, Quả Tim Mau (Vengeful Heart) and Người Bất Tử (The Immortal) were blockbusters in 2014 and 2018.    

In 2020, Vũ’s Mắt Biếc was chosen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. The film tells a story of youth and love, and starred young actors Trần Nghĩa, Truc Anh and Khanh Van in the lead roles. 

It was listed among the industry’s top 10 hits, taking more than VNĐ127 billion (US$5.5 million) at the box office.

“I love working in Viet Nam. I have learned a lot about the country’s history, and its traditional culture and lifestyle,” Vũ told local media.

Vũ's  latest film Thien Thần Ho Menh (The Guardian), a thriller by Tfilm Entertainment, was distributed in cinemas in 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Hungary, France, Ireland, the UK and the US last year. 

It also was in cinemas in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Czech Republic. 

“I love films by Victor Vũ. He combines Vietnamese and Hollywood styles in his art,” said Nguyễn Vũ Bảo Nghi, a film fan in HCM City. —VNS