Nominated for Best Short in last year’s 2014 Viet Film Fest, My Father’s Truck (Xe tải của bố) is a coming of age, road film about 10-year-old Mai Vy who helps her father with his passenger truck. With beautiful shots along the countryside of Northern Vietnam and superb acting, this film packs a tender, emotional punch in just 15 minutes. Since its release, the film has been screened at film festivals all over the world and won numerous awards. My Father’s Truck advanced to the 87th Annual Academy Awards shortlist.
Mauricio Osaki, the director of My Father’s Truck, was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where he started his career directing short films and working in feature projects as assistant editor and post producer at major film companies. He currently lives in Beijing where he is working on his NYU thesis while developing a feature film script.
Quoc Quan Le from the Viet Film Fest team recently interviewed Mauricio about his filmmaking process.
- How does it feel to be shortlisted for an Oscar?
It feels great, I would never imagine we would get this far. “My Father’s Truck” is a small independent project, spoken in Vietnamese, with a realistic approach, for these reasons I would never imagine we would end up in the short-list. It’s been an amazing journey for this film. It has been screened in more than 80 international film festivals so far, all around the globe and now the short-list! I feel very touched because whenever I say I was doing a film in Vietnam people usually asked me if it was related to the war, because that is the first image people have about Vietnam. So I am glad that we are presenting a story about father and daughter a story that has great local actors and tell something about their lives.
- How did you come to the decision to use a Vietnamese cast?
Since the first moment I had decided to make the film in Vietnam, I was sure it would have local cast and would be spoken in Vietnamese. I really wanted to work with talented local cast that would help me to tell this story, especially because I am not from there and I don’t speak the language. Therefore it was very important to have a cast that understood the story and could make it better. Mai Vy and Trung Anh were perfect they added a lot to the film and they are the gold of this short-film. My original intention was to write a story about a father-son relationship, which also portrayed a generational dimension. But, as is often the case in filmmaking, things don’t always go as planned. And I met a little girl who had a huge effect on me. She was sensitive and tough at the same time, and these were qualities I wanted for the protagonist.
Trung Anh, on the other hand, is already an established theater actor. He is superb and it was a pleasure learning from him.
- Where did you shoot, “My Father’s Truck?” And how did the locations add to the story?
It was shot in Northern Vietnam, around Hanoi. It was during the winter and the Vietnamese winter can be very harsh, especially in these areas in the North. My director of photography, Pierre Kerchove, knew we wouldn’t have much resources to “build” locations or to create a set, so we needed to search for locations that were already “ready” that would help to tell this story about father and daughter traveling together. So I spent around 1 month visiting different areas around Hanoi.
It was important for the story to have the sense that they would be moving inside the country, to more isolated areas and at the same time that their relationship gets more deep and complex.
Our production designer, costumer designer, gaffers, and production assistants were all from Hanoi and they helped a lot in searching for the best locations. We also had Diep Nguyen as our local producer and she would do her best to help us to find places that would fit the story.
- What are you currently working on?
I am working on a short film to be shot in China over the next few months at the same time I’m developing “My Father’s Truck” to be shot as a feature film in Vietnam. Last year I also shot a series of small documentaries with friends of mine in Hanoi and I am editing that now.
- Is there a certain aesthetic you try for in your films or does it vary from film to film?
I like social realism and I try to keep my films with a real look, with local texture, using elements of the place to tell the story. I think it adds a lot to what we are telling and helps the audience to have a sense of place and people there.
- Do you have a “top three” films that have inspired you as a filmmaker/artist?
Not really I like watching all kinds of films from different directors and different nationalities. I am always trying to keep up to date with the latest productions at the same time I watch classical films.
- There are so many different aspects to filmmaking. Is there one aspect you’re drawn to more than the others?
I see myself more as a filmmaker rather than just a director. I like writing my projects, directing it. I edit my films and usually I edit films of my friends as well. Sometimes I get the invitation to shoot shorts or documentaries and if the schedule allows, I do that as well. I’m passionate about sophisticated, high quality cinema that resonates for all people interested in good, memorable and meaningful storytelling
Follow My Father’s Truck on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myfatherstruck
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7ocObVAqM
