“The 4th”, a short film made by five students from Ho Chi Minh City, has bagged first prize in the horror film category at the seventh International Student Film Festival in North Hollywood in the US on Nov. 7-8.

Titled “So tu” (The Death Number) in Vietnamese, the film was directed by Nguyen Do Khoa. Others members of the production team include Le Thi Nhu Anh, editor; Nguyen Uy Vu, musical composer; Nguyen Hoang Duy, visual effects; and Truong Thang Khoa, media artwork. All are from the Ho Chi Minh City-based Raffles International College .

The 20-minute film, which tells a horror story that takes place on the fourth floor of a college building, was one of 65 nominees chosen from over 250 entries to the festival.

All the films chosen are from the nine countries of: Vietnam, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Romania, Israel, Canada, Australia and the US.

The International Student Film Festival was founded by entertainment industry veteran Robin Saban in 2003, offers student filmmakers from all over the world the opportunity to gain recognition from leaders in the film industry and create career development opportunities in their home countries as well as in the US, says the festival’s website./.