12/31/1931
Hoằng Hóa District, French Indochina [now Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam]:
People's Artist Hải Ninh (b. Nguyễn Hải Ninh, Thanh Hóa province, December 31, 1931 - February 5, 2013) was a Vietnamese director. He was the Director of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio from 1984 to 1994. Starting his career since 1956, he belongs to the first class of the Vietnam Film School and is one of the pioneers who laid the bricks for Vietnamese cinema. After working as an assistant director on the film "An Early Day in Autumn" (Một ngày đầu thu, 1962), he directed "The Young Soldier" (Người chiến sĩ trẻ). After that, he made an unforgettable impression with works such as "O Tham Forest" (Rừng O Thắm), "17th Parallel: Nights and Days" (Vĩ tuyến 17 ngày và đêm), "The Little Girl of Hanoi" (Em bé Hà Nội), "First Love" (Mối tình đầu), "A Night of Long Tri Festival" (Đêm hội Long Trì), "Ephemeral Life" (Kiếp phù du), "Love on the Edge of the Abyss" (Tình yêu bên bờ vực thẳm), "The Beach of Life" (Bãi biển đời người), etc. Hải Ninh also made documentaries "The first day of peace in Quang Tri" (Ngày hòa bình đầu tiên ở Quảng Trị), "The Island of Freedom" (Hòn đảo tự do), "City at Dawn" (Thành phố lúc rạng đông). His films have been shown and acclaimed both within the nation and in countries overseas. Hải Ninh was a close friend of another prominent Vietnamese director, Hồng Sến.
