This talk explores Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh’s 1923–1924 advocacy for adapting Kim Vân Kiều into a film, as published in his article Chớp Bóng Kim Vân Kiều. Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh argued that cinema, as a modern and transnational medium, could elevate Vietnamese literature—particularly Truyện Kiều—to a global stage, asserting its philosophical and emotional depth on par with Western works. He viewed the screen as a powerful educational and cultural tool capable of conveying complex ideas through images rather than words. The film project became a response to colonial narratives claiming that only Western literature had intellectual merit. By pushing for a Kiều adaptation, Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh participated in a broader intellectual trend of reclaiming cultural identity and resisting colonial cultural hierarchies. The film Kim Vân Kiều, co-produced with French partners and released in 1924, was both a medium of nationalist pride and colonial spectacle. Its reception ranged from urban cinemas to rural village screenings, where familiar Vietnamese landscapes on screen evoked emotional resonance and identity for local audiences. Although the film has since been lost, its production and circulation reveal the complex entanglement of art, propaganda, and national sentiment in early 20th-century Vietnam under French colonialism.