Biography

People's Artist Phạm Văn Khoa (b. 14 March 1913 in Hải Phòng province - 24 October 1992) was a Vietnamese director, and one of the most important pioneers of Vietnamese revolutionary cinema. He was the first Director of the National Enterprise of Vietnam Cinema and Photography, established in 1953, and the former Director of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. Phạm started making films in 1958. His debut "Orange Garden" (Vườn cam) portrays and criticizes issues surrounding agricultural cooperatives at that time. After that, he made many other films, best known for "Fire in the Middle Line" (Lửa trung tuyến, 1961), "Once Upon a Time in Vũ Đại Village (Làng Vũ Đại ngày ấy, 1983) and "Mrs. Dau" (Chị Dậu, 1980).