SYNOPSIS
“Grave diggers for hire” is a quiet documentary following Bình and Ngọc, two men who make a living by exhuming graves at a rural cemetery near Hanoi. Behind this daily work are profound reflections on health, death, and the meaning of preserving a tradition that is gradually fading away. This documentary sensitively explores the lives of those maintaining the cultural practice of grave exhumation, shedding light on deeper human and social themes.
CREDIT
Director: Nguyễn Ánh
Nguyễn Ánh (born 1995, near Hanoi) graduated in graphic design in 2018. After nearly 7 years working in this field, she shifted to documentary filmmaking by joining the Varan Vietnam workshop at age 29. This marked a new creative path for her: exploring the art of non-fiction storytelling.
Genre: Documentary
Production: Varan Việt Nam | Trần Phương Thảo
Cinematography: Nguyễn Ánh
Sound:
Lê Thị Thắm, Nguyễn Văn Thanh, Trần Thị Phương Thảo, Nguyễn Hồ Bảo Nghi, Mý Đức, Cầm Đức Hiệp
Editing: Tạ Minh Đức
REWARDS, FESTIVALS AND DIFFUSIONS
Bremen Days of Ethnographic Film
Germany | 2026
CLIPS
PHOTOS
Other Films
Thiên Ân
Mr. Phương lives isolated from the outside world by cardboard boxes. There, he eats, sleeps, reads books, writes poetry, keeps a diary, designs circuit boards, and repairs electronic devices.The greatest inconvenience is the lack of electricity, which prevents him from soldering his beloved circuit boards and fulfilling the mission he has set for himself.
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Mr.Toan
Bộ phim là chiếc cầu nối đưa nhà làm phim đến gần hơn với cuộc sống nhộn nhịp, đầy bất ngờ của một “đồng chí công an” 35 tuổi, nơi tràn ngập những giấc mơ và khát vọng về tình yêu. Nhưng ẩn sau đấy là những dấu vết mờ ảo của hiện thực đan xen với những giấc mộng xa vời.
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