People’s Artist Phạm Nhuệ Giang (born 19th December 1957 in Hanoi) is a Vietnamese director and screenwriter. Youngest daughter of the famed director Phạm Văn Khoa, she is classically trained in piano and worked briefly as a construction engineer prior to enrolling at Hanoi National Academy for Theatre and Cinema in 1983. Upon graduation, she started working for Vietnam Feature Film Studio in 1983 as a producer and assistant director to Đặng Nhật Minh and her husband Nguyễn Thanh Vân. In 1996, she made her debut feature, “Bỏ trốn”(Runaway), and earned several accolades at local awards. Her next film in 2001, “Thung lũng hoang vắng”(The deserted valley) was a widespread hit; despite initial opposition from censorship boards, it clinched 2nd Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography at 13th Vietnam Film Festival, a Fipresci Award at Melbourne International Film Festival, Best Director at the Vietnam Cinema Association Award (precursor of the Golden Kite). “Thung lũng hoang vắng” is often regarded as one of the finest works in modern Vietnamese cinema, and it cemented Nhuệ Giang’s reputation as a critically-acclaimed auteur in filmmaking.
In the subsequent years, Nhuệ Giang mostly worked in television productions and short digital releases to focus on developing an adaptation of Nguyễn Huy Thiệp’s story “Tâm hồn mẹ”(The Maternal Heart). Conceived in 1996 after “Bỏ trốn” and took over 20 years to go into production, the film is her most expensive work with over 6.6billion VND in funding, but also her most successful at awards and international festivals. After “Tâm hồn mẹ”, Nhuệ Giang released her last feature, “Lạc lối” (Aimless) in 2013; she later spent more time on lecturing at the Theatre Academy and producing TV series. She officially retired in 2015. She has since occasionally given talks, chaired conferences and lectured on film studies.
