Nguyễn Khánh Dư

Date of birth

02 Sep 1933

93 years ago at Cao Bằng, French Indochina [now Vietnam]

Also Known As

Nguyen Khanh Du
Нгуен Кхань Зу
Кхань Зу Нгуен
Khanh Du Nguyen

Nguyễn Khánh Dư (September 2, 1933 – December 3, 2007) was a Vietnamese director and cinematographer. A war photographer for an information bureau during the 1st Indochina War, he began working as a documentary cinematographer in 1955. In 1959, he joined Vietnam Feature Film Studio and had his first feature film credit in Phạm Văn Khoa’s “Vườn cam”[Orange Garden] (1960).

Biography

Despite lacking in professional training, Khánh Dư was widely regarded as one of the most influential cinematographers in early Vietnamese cinema. He worked on films such as "Chị Tư Hậu" [Mrs. Tu Hau] (1962) and "Biển lửa" [Sea of Fire] (1965) by Phạm Kỳ Nam, and won Best Cinematography at the 4th Vietnam Film Festival for his work in the feature film "Hai người mẹ" [Two Mothers] (1975) as well as the documentary "Thành phố lúc rạng đông" [The City at Sunrise] (1975).

He began directing in 1976. His best known film is perhaps "Mẹ vắng nhà" [While Mother is Away] (1980), and many of his films focus on children as their subject.