Vietnamese war drama Red Rain enters the 98th Academy Awards: Find out key details

Red Rain is a Vietnamese film in the war drama genre. Directed by Dang Thai Huyen, the film is written by Huyen and Chu Lai (who is an author). It's an adaptation of Lai's namesake novel that was published in 2016 and was awarded by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence. Here's the official synopsis as per IMDb:

Cuong, a conservatory student who gives up an overseas scholarship to join the army. He fights alongside his squadmates - Ta, Binh, Tu, Hai, and Sen from different regions who, despite their contrasting personalities, share a common ideal of peace.

The film has been named as the official entry in the 98th Academy Awards from Vietnam. Let us find out the details about this news and the film itself.

Red Rain enters the Oscar race

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Vietnamese epic war drama film Red Rain (originally Mưa Đỏ) is the official submission of the country in the best international feature film category at the 98th Academy Awards.

The academy will be announcing the shortlisted names for the international feature on December 16. The last five nominations will be unveiled on January 22. It's yet another submission from Vietnam, which has been sending its films in the international feature category since around 1993. It began with The Scent of Green Papaya, but since then, no title has received a nomination.

Red Rain is expected to change that as it has grossed over VND714 billion ($28 million), becoming the highest-grossing film from Vietnam. It has sold more than 8.1 million tickets, which is a significant number for any film in that country.

The film is a dramatized account of one of the chapters of the Vietnam War called Quảng Trị Citadel, which was defended by the local army. It chronicles a bunch of soldiers who are on the line to defend their land. The period drama war film is produced by Nguyen Tri Vien, while Ly Thai Dung is the cinematographer. Than Thi Thu Hang has edited the film. Its production banners include Vietnamese People's Army Cinematography, Galaxy Studio, and HKFilm.

Its cast members include (as per IMDb):

Jayvee Mai The Hiep
Do Nhat Hoang as Cuong
Vi Van Hua as Doctor Le
Nguyen Hung as Hai
Tran Gia Huy as Tan
Thân Thúy Hà as Quang's Mother
Dinh Khang as Tu
Hoang Long as Sen
Phuong Nam as Ta
Lam Thanh Nha as Binh

Red Rain had its premiere in two Vietnamese cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, on August 20 and 18. It was eventually released in the theatres on August 22, which coincided with the country's 80th independence anniversary. While the film has turned out to be a major commercial success, it has mostly received mixed critical responses.

If the film manages to get shortlisted and receive a nomination, it would break a decades-long jinx for Vietnam and would possibly provide more exposure to their cinema on a global scale.

Are you looking forward to next year's Oscars?