Golden Kite Award-winning film 2024 ‘Dan Ca Go’: Gen Z sets sail to make movies

Dan Ca Go portrays slices of life from Cuong, a coastal boy who once dreamed of a life immersed in music. After the loss of his father, with the demands of daily survival pulling him back to the sea, Cuong’s dream lie dormant like an abandoned guitar until a small opportunity re-emerges. Faced with this, Cuong must ask himself: is it still possible to live a life driven by passion?

The trailer for Dan Ca Go evokes a sensory cinematic experience: viewers can taste the salt of the sea, feel the shifting wooden deck of the fishing boat beneath their feet, and hear the OST Miracle—a rare soundtrack that lingers, hums in memory, and resonates long before the full story unfolds.

Gen Z director Nguyen Pham Thanh Dat didn’t take the easy route in bringing this film to life. There was no studio, no artificial post-production setting: instead, Thanh Dat chose the real sea. The entire crew (mostly Gen Z) brought their equipment to Quynh Luu (Nghe An), where they lived on a boat, ate and slept like fishermen, and filmed under the raw conditions of life at sea.

Filming took place over two sessions, in February and April 2024. From the first day, the crew braved the sea’s harshest conditions. For scenes that required cameras away from the main vessel, they filmed from a small, rocking boat, where both actors and cameramen had to balance themselves against the unpredictable motion. Amidst the sway of the open water, even shared meals beneath the glow of fishing lanterns became cherished memories.

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Dan Ca Go was not backed by any major studio. Many were surprised to discover that it was, in fact, Thanh Dat’s graduation project at the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema. Yet from the opening scenes, it would be difficult to label this simply as a “student film”.

The film received the 2024 Golden Kite Short Film Award, impressing on multiple levels from the chosen setting to its editing tempo, lighting, visual language, and music. Every element reflects the filmmaking ideals of its young, passionate crew. Thanh Dat and his collaborators told a sincere story of a young man with an old dream, and the moment he is forced to confront it once more.

It’s impossible not to mention Magic, the soundtrack composed by lead actor Nguyen Quoc Hung. Before Dan Ca Go even reached the screen, Magic had already gained a following for its raw melody and honest lyrics. Among the comments, few soundtracks have stirred such emotion or sparked as much curiosity about the story behind them. In a way, the music became the very first door that led the audience to Dan Ca Go.

Dan Ca Go is not strictly a film about young people, but it is undoubtedly told from the heart of one. It speaks of someone who once dreamt, then gave up, who carried on just to get by, until one day he realised the dream had never truly died: it was only too weary to call out.

The main character, Cuong, could be anyone. Someone who once learned to play guitar, scribbled down lyrics but never sang. Someone who once longed to leave, but had to stay. Someone who believed a choice had been made until a chance came along, small but stirring enough to set his heart racing once again.

This film marks more than the success of a young director and crew. At its core, Dan Ca Go offers something to a generation caught between responsibility and aspiration, between what is expected and what is desired, between the safety of a known road and the uncertainty of one not yet paved.

Dan Ca Go officially opened in theatres on 15 July in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, with a limited number of screenings.

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