Ròm

Ròm is a 2019 Vietnamese film on the topic of crime and violence, directed by Tran Thanh Huy. The film had its world premiere at the 24th Busan International Film Festival on 4 October 2019, where it won the New Currents Award, becoming the first Vietnamese film to receive the award.

Plot
In a decrepit apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City, residents are deep in debt. They gamble in the hope that they can gain enough money to keep their apartment and achieve their dreams. 14-year-old Ròm works as bookie lottery runner to earn a living. He lives in poverty after being separated from his parents and hopes to one day find them.

Phúc, a rival lottery winner, gains the trust of the apartment residents by recommending winning numbers. However, Phúc had been tricking the residents for a long time. Seeing that this isn’t right, Ròm changes this by helping the people pick a good number. Ròm’s number wins and Phúc loses all of his customers to Ròm. Believing in Ròm’s good luck, the tenants want to bet big to settle all of their debts.

Phúc kidnaps Ròm and takes all of the bets to turn in. Once Ròm escapes, the creditors are demand to have their debts paid off and threaten people with violence. They burn down the apartment complex.

Some time later, Ròm and Phúc meet again and Phúc steals Ròm's earnings. Ròm chases him endlessly down a busy city street, leaving his fate unknown.

In a post-credits scene, Ròm is seen as a homeless child, living on the street until a group of boys offer him food.

Cast

 * Anh Khoa Tran
 * Phan Anh Tu Nguyen
 * Phuong Cat
 * Tran Mai
 * Wowy

Release
The film had its world premiere at the 24th Busan International Film Festival on 4 October 2019.

Controversy
Vietnamese drama film Rom, which was honored with the top award at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) last week, has been slapped with a heavy administrative penalty for joining the fest without first acquiring a screening license at home. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday imposed a VND40 million (US$1,720) administrative fine on Hoan Khue Film Production JSC (HKFilm) - the production company behind ‘Rom.' The culture ministry also gave the company ten days to destroy the film copy it sent to BIFF, or authorities will coercively enact “spoliation of the evidence." ‘Rom’ is a coming-of-age drama revolving around the story of a young bookie in bustling Ho Chi Minh City, where he tries everything he can to help the residents of an old apartment complex keep their homes and fulfill his dream of finding his parents. According to a source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the film was not licensed for screening in Vietnam as HKFilm failed to edit out some violent scenes as per the request from a national film evaluation council. Despite lacking a screening license, the production company sent the unabridged version of ‘Rom’ to Busan instead of completing the edit work as required and seeking re-evaluation from Vietnamese authorities, according to the source. Although the Vietnamese culture ministry then requested that the film be withdrawn from the festival, it was still shown at BIFF and eventually shared the festival’s prestigious New Currents Award with Iraq-Qatar co-production ‘Haifa Street’ in a ceremony last Saturday. ‘Rom’ is the first Vietnamese entry to receive the New Currents Award, which is given to the two best feature films selected from the first or second works of new Asian directors introduced in the New Currents section.

On March 31, 2020, Ròm is licensed by the Cinema Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). This movie is tied to an age limit of C18.