Knowing such a cruel truth and not speaking up is also a crime.

The work was awarded the A prize of the 2022 National Press Award in the category of television documentary. To better understand the process of creating this work, reporters from the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper had a conversation with journalist Ho Tri - Center for Digital Content Production and Development (VTV Digital), Vietnam Television.

Working across the border has never been easy.

+ VTV Special called "Trap" was broadcast, causing a stir in public opinion in 2022, so what idea did you and your crew come up with to develop this topic?

- We started to hear from small pieces of information on social networks and through people's conversations that here and there people were scammed, missing. But that was just gossip, all the information was still quite vague. The team spent time finding information from many different sources, both domestic and foreign. We knew that such a thing happened, but we needed to find out the specifics and directly exploit it.

When I knew the truth, I cried so much but didn't say anything, that's also a crime. — The VTV Special “Trap” was first broadcast on December 24, 2022, exposing what is happening to Vietnamese workers abroad.

We decided to set out and shoot the first scenes from the early days of 2022, the ambiguity gradually cleared up. Each step discovered new things, the more we went, the more comprehensive and specific the view became. Collecting each data to create a story that was logical, reasonable and true.

Before “Trap” , we had worked abroad a few times with “easier” topics, but no matter what, working on the other side of the border has never been simple. Language, cultural, and terrain barriers always make the work difficult. Most other topics, we have the fate and story before departure, but not with “Trap” . The information at the time of starting to set foot on the other side of the border was too general and vague. It also made us have many emotions and giving up was also something the whole crew thought about.

But no matter what topic you work on or where you work, the most important thing is the legal factor. From asking for permission from the agency, preparing procedures, immigration documents, etc. You must understand the rules of operation, which images are allowed to be filmed, which are allowed to be used... because this is also related to national diplomacy . When working, we should not set limits for ourselves, but instead pay attention to ethics and law. As reporters, everyone is "greedy" for data, this is a good thing because they want to have the most information to serve their audience, but do not let that be the reason to violate ethics and the law.

We don't try to make anything special and don't start out with any special goals.

+ When working, did you have a feeling that your work would become a blockbuster with great influence and reach?

- We did not intend to create a blockbuster. We always thought simply, it is our job so we want to do it and have to do it. Journalists are inherently better than others in that they know the truth and are even the first to witness the truth. And when knowing such a cruel truth but not speaking up is also a crime.

During the process, we found that the information was dense, if it was only contained in a few pieces of news, the content would be fragmented. One or two reports could not convey all the information and messages in the most complete way. After nearly 8 months of production, when the film was finished, the recorded materials had truly become special because of its high warning nature. And so it accidentally became VTV Special. Saying this to let the audience know that we did not try to make anything special and did not start with a special goal, but it simply happened that way.

These are films about the truth. There is no script to force the characters and the story to follow the wishes of the crew. The film also has no director, because the characters do not act according to anyone's direction. All the choices are theirs and the reporter's job is only to record the truth. Finding and approaching the characters is even more difficult than how to film the images in the film. Therefore, the effort to make the film cannot be calculated by the number of people, the number of days but by the fate of people.

More than once wanted to give up

+ Is it possible that reporters themselves fall into the “trap”, because in reality there have been many beatings, where the law is disregarded, basic freedoms are deprived, guns and violence are always present?

- After post-production, we agreed to choose the word “Trap” to name our film, this is a noun but also a verb. Here there are victims “trapped” from within the country to internationally, the characters are falling into traps, both their own traps and those of human traffickers. Sadly, many victims know it is a trap but still rush into it because they want to escape poverty. They struggle in the trap, some have to pay with their lives.

During the process of working, there were many difficulties. It was not only about working on the other side of the border but also about how to record images inside criminal organizations that commit online fraud and human trafficking. There is fear, but if you only know how to worry or fear, it will not solve the problem, but will only make everything more complicated. Instead of being afraid of being arrested, beaten or killed when they discover you have infiltrated to record, you must think of a way to deal with that hypothesis if it happens. The crew believes that if you do something for the truth, because you should do it and have to do it, then you will produce your own vaccine to protect yourself.

+ With so much pressure, was there a time when you and your crew wanted to give up?

- Now, after the film aired, we can say everything so well and smoothly, but my colleagues and I wanted to give up more than once. The biggest pressure was the progress, the longer the time, the more victims fell into the trap. There were times when the crew had to argue fiercely because the coordination was not really good. Because there was too much pressure, it was difficult for everyone to keep a cool head and stay awake. There were times when we wanted to give up... but then we thought, if we don't continue, who will tell the truth? We feel so guilty towards the victims and the people who are helping us. So, we took a break and then continued together. And we continued together until the film aired.

+ Thanks for sharing!

Le Tam (Implementation)

Source