Pil Nguyen, who lives Ho Chi Minh City, takes advantage of his business trips to find and film temples with unique architecture to feature in his videos.
Some of the temples and pagodas in Pil Nguyen’s series are either historical relics, associated with historical figures, or even recognized with a Guinness record.
“I film instead of photographing the temples as I feel healthy energy from them that helps balance life. I think people also need this energy so I spent more time in the post-production stage to give the public a complete introduction to these places,” Nguyen said.
“Moreover, I want to give the spotlight to the unique architectural features and cultural significance of these temples,” he added.
Van Phat Temple in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Video: Pil Nguyen
In addition, Pil Nguyen also introduces temples where religious members bring up orphaned children and give free medicine to people in need.
The young director has so far filmed more than 200 temples and pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City and several southern provinces, including An Giang, Ben Tre, Long An, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, and Binh Duong.
Among them, 133 temples have been featured in videos uploaded to his YouTube series ‘Chua Viet Nam’ (Vietnamese temples).
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| Director Pil Nguyen is pictured at Dieu Phap Pagoda in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in this undated supplied photo. |
Pil Nguyen is in the post-production stage of the videos of the remaining temples he has filmed and plans to continue filming more temples and pagodas in the southeastern and Mekong Delta provinces.
“In the near future, I will invest in drones to give the audience more angles of the temples,” Nguyen said
Nguyen’s ambition is to introduce up to 1,000 temples and pagodas in his ‘Chua Viet Nam’ series.
A 400-year-old-strong giant tree at Dieu Quang Temple in Tan An City, Long An Province, Vietnam. Video: Pil Nguyen
Director Pil Nguyen, whose real name is Nguyen Phuong Phi, won the first prize in the film contest to challenge gender stereotypes organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the national television channel VTV6 in 2016.
Nguyen released his first web drama in March this year as part of a project designed to create web drama products and video clips that are both entertaining and educational.
Below are some photos of temples and pagodas featured in Pil Nguyen’s YouTube series:
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| Van Duc Temple in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| A statue at Van Duc Temple in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| Co Dam Temple in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| Van Phat Temple in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| Statues in a yard at Bach Lien Temple in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| Phat Bao Temple in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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| A statue at Phat Bao Temple in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Pil Nguyen |
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