The short film "The Hoi An Lantern Making Craft - Weaving the Story of a Magical 'Light'" by a group of students from the Multimedia Communication major, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, School of Languages & Social Sciences and Humanities (LHSS), Duy Tan University, excellently won the "Best Cinematography" award at ASEAN UniFest 2025. This student short film competition was held within the framework of the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA), taking place from November 12-16, 2025, in Malaysia.

Ngo Tan Ngan (center) represents the student group receiving the award at the Festival.

The ASEAN UniFest competition is a creative playground gathering students from universities across the ASEAN region, encouraging them to tell stories with social and humanistic significance, aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, the program attracted 150 films from 43 universities, demonstrating the integration spirit and strong creativity of Southeast Asia's youth.

A commemorative photo of the winning student teams with the Organizing Committee.

Inspired by the ancient beauty of Hoi An's old town, the film by the LHSS student group recreates the story of the traditional lantern-making craft - a brilliant cultural symbol of Vietnam. Through meticulously crafted frames, viewers can feel the skillful hands, persistent hearts, and strong belief of the Hoi An people in their journey to preserve the light of national identity. This was also the only Vietnamese work shortlisted and to bring home a win at this year's awards ceremony.

The short film "The Hoi An Lantern Making Craft - Weaving the Story of a Magical 'Light'".

The film was directed and shot by student Ngo Tan Ngan, with the Sunshine team, under the professional guidance of an LHSS lecturer. The work originated as a academic product for a Television course, later being edited, supplemented with English subtitles, and refined in content to suit this year's ASEAN UniFest theme. Every frame is the result of a passion for cinema, relentless creativity, and the LHSS students' aspiration to spread Vietnamese culture to the world.

Representing the student group receiving the award, Ngo Tan Ngan shared: "I feel very happy and proud to be present at AIFFA and receive the 'Best Cinematography' award. This is an extremely wonderful experience for me. This award is a recognition of the whole team's efforts and a motivation for me to continue pursuing the path of professional filmmaking in the future."

Ngo Tan Ngan expressed happiness upon receiving the prestigious award.

The victory at ASEAN UniFest 2025 is not only a source of pride for Ngo Tan Ngan and the Sunshine team but also evidence of the training quality, practical orientation, and vision for internationalization of the School of Languages & Social Sciences and Humanities, Duy Tan University. Here, every student is encouraged to turn passion into action and ideas into artistic products, contributing to spreading Vietnamese cultural values to friends in the region and the world.