The 2015 UK Film Week organised by British Council Vietnam will take place from 4 to 12 November in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to tribute to all the unsung heroes in making music as an integral part of Great Britain.

Award-winning films to be screened during the week include God Help the Girl (2014), Nowhere Boy (2009), Pulp (2014), Northern Soul (2014), Good Vibrations (2013), Control (2007) and Bugsy Malone (1976).

At this year’s UK film week, audiences will be lost in a world where music becomes helps to heal a girl who suffers from anorexia (God Help the Girl) or where the citizens of a small town are revitalised and united through Pulp’s songs for ‘Common People’ (Pulp: a Film about Life, Death and Supermarkets). Thrills are guaranteed for the loyal fans of The Beatles in Vietnam in Nowhere Boy as they can see John Lennon’s early life as he started his banjo lessons, bought his first guitar, formed the Quarrymen, gave himself an Elvis hairdo, switched to Buddy Holly-style horn-rims, met with Paul McCartney and was refused entry to the Cavern.

The tragic life and death of many talented musicians can be shared through Control, an epic film about Ian Curtis, the frontman of Joy Division, an English rock band from Manchester. A dramatic portrayal of Curtis, Control takes audiences through Curtis’ failing marriage and epilepsy, which worsened his mood swings and made performing live incredibly difficult for him. The story that led to his suicide at the age of 23 is told brilliantly, making Control a ’must see’ film.

For those who want some humour, Bugsy Malone is an excellent choice. It is a gangster movie a cast entirely of children. The BAFTA-winning musical was directed by Sir Alan Parker whose films (including Evita) won 19 BAFTAs and 10 Oscars. Bugsy Malone works as a ‘real’ gangster movie but with a sense of childlike innocence too.

Cherry Gough, Director of British Council Vietnam said: ‘According to Music Market’s 2015 report, musicians from the UK represent half the names on last year’s Top 10 list of world best-selling recording artists, and the UK accounted for 1 in 7 of all albums sold worldwide. Real evidence of how much music from the UK is loved all over the world.

‘We’re delighted to celebrate British music in film in the 2015 UK Film Week. These films shed light on parts of the lives of musicians that are not always known to the general public: the sweat and tears of the creative process and the long hard journey to success.

‘The pure passion for music that you can feel through these award-winning films goes some way towards explaining why the UK has been such a great source of musical innovation in the 20th and 21st centuries.’

VOV/British Council