Hay Tinh Thuc Va San Sang (Stay Awake, Be Ready), directed by Pham Thien An, will compete for the ILLY Short Film Award under Director’s Fortnight, a section in the Cannes Film Festival 2019 held from May 14-25 this year. 

The section, established in 1968, honors feature, short films and documentaries that do not compete in the main categories.

Stay Awake, Be Ready is listed under the short and medium-length film categories along with nine other films from around the world.

Completed in 2018, Stay Awake, Be Ready tells the story about a traffic accident in front of a sidewalk food stall that spontaneously connects the life of three young people. 

"Going to Cannes is not only my dream but it is many filmmakers’ dream. I am excited for my film to be shown on the large screen there," said director Thien An. 

Pham Thien An, director of "Stay Awake, Be Ready". 

Pham Thien An, born in 1989, won second prize at the 48 Hours Short Film Competition in Vietnam in 2014.

In 2018, his short film Cam Lang (The Mute) was screened at the Palm Spring International Short Film Festival and was chosen to compete in nearly 15 international film festivals including the Winterthur International Short Film Festival, Tampere Film Festival and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Cannes is one of the three biggest film festivals in the world. For the Director’s Fortnight section, the jury leader is Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra, whose film Embrace of the Serpent received an Oscars nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2016.