Nguyễn Vinh Sơn

Nguyễn Vinh Sơn was born on 6 September 1953 in Quảng Trị province, in what was then North Vietnam, to a family whose roots were in Huế. Reports describe him as the eldest brother of a large film family, with nearly ten younger siblings, children and grandchildren working in the industry. His younger brother Nguyễn Trinh Hoan became director of the HK Film production company, and his youngest brother Nguyễn Minh Cao became a film director.

Nguyễn Vinh Sơn worked in Vietnamese film and television from the 1970s. He became known for working slowly, roughly one major production a decade, and for refusing to compromise on his ideas.

Tuổi thơ dữ dội (Fierce Childhood), adapted from the novel by Phùng Quán, told the story of the boy Mừng during the resistance against French colonial rule. Released around 1989, it won the Silver Lotus, the best director award and the best actor award at the 1990 Vietnam Film Festival.

Đất phương Nam (Southern Land), released in 1997 in 11 episodes, adapted Đoàn Giỏi's novel Đất rừng phương Nam. It followed An, a boy who loses his mother and travels across the south in search of his father, meeting poor but kind people living under colonial and landlord oppression. The series became a classic of 1990s Vietnamese television, and characters such as An, Cò, the snake catcher Ba and Võ Tòng became household names. It is described as the first Vietnamese television series exported to the United States.

His feature Trăng nơi đáy giếng (Moon at the Bottom of the Well, 2008) told the story of the teacher Hạnh, played by Hồng Ánh, in Huế. It won the Silver Lotus for feature film at the 16th Vietnam Film Festival; Hồng Ánh won best actress in the Asia Africa section of the Dubai International Film Festival in 2008, and the director won an award at a film festival in Madrid in 2009. He also taught cinematography at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Theatre and Cinema, where his students included Nguyễn Quang Dũng.

In his later years he appeared mainly at film and cultural events. He was a production adviser on Nguyễn Quang Dũng's 2023 film Đất rừng phương Nam, supplying research material, attended its premiere with the cast of the original series, and was a speaker at the 2023 Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival.

Nguyễn Vinh Sơn was known as a private and modest man who rarely sought publicity. The writer Trần Nhã Thụy described him as ordinary in daily life and remarkable only in his art, recalling quiet pavement coffees with him and his joke, when strangers smiled at him, that they had mistaken him for another well known artist. He was close to his brothers, who also worked in film.

Nguyễn Vinh Sơn died at his home in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of 22 October 2026, aged 73. His family said he died of cancer after a period of treatment, surrounded by his family. His brother Nguyễn Trinh Hoan told VietNamNet that he died at 16:20 local time; another brother, Nguyễn Minh Cao, gave Tiền Phong a slightly different time. The family said funeral arrangements were being made.

Tributes came from across Vietnamese cinema. Nguyễn Quang Dũng thanked him as a beloved teacher of many generations of directors, the director Phan Đăng Di praised how he captured the soul of the southern countryside, and Trịnh Đình Lê Minh called him a gifted, humble and genuine filmmaker.

Nguyễn Vinh Sơn is remembered for a small body of work with lasting influence. Đất phương Nam remains one of the most beloved Vietnamese television series, Tuổi thơ dữ dội and Trăng nơi đáy giếng are regarded as landmarks of Vietnamese cinema, and his careful, unhurried method and his teaching shaped a generation of directors.