IF IT’S TRUE that “home” is wherever you can be yourself, French filmmakers Francois Leroy and Stephanie Lansaque are feeling they’re exactly where they belong in Vietnam. When they first visited as tourists in 2002, they were instantly seduced by the country’s beauty.

“We immediately felt comfortable,” says Lansaque. “We felt a sense of familiarity with the country and its streets. We were impressed by the dynamism of the country and the kindness of its people.”

They have since returned every year, each time staying for four to six months, tallying five years in total. They no longer see themselves as being much different from the locals and have integrated well. They speak Vietnamese, cook local dishes, travel by motorbike and go out with the people.

That first trip in 2002 was a turning point in their lives. Leroy was an animation student at the Gobelins School of Visual Communication ( L’Ecole de l’Image) in Paris. Lansaque was a design artist and working as an artistic director.

But the love they felt for Vietnam motivated them to make their first movie – an animated short inspired by daily life. They’ve made two more since about Vietnamese society and all have won awards at French film festivals.

Last week they presented all three at a public screening in Hanoi. The viewers were pleasantly surprised at how cartoons could portray local life and culture in such a realistic way.

Their unique style, which combines drawings done by hand and digitally with videos and photos, accompanied by traditional music, mesmerised the audience. Each short movie took a year and a half to make.

The first, “Bonsoir Monsieur Chu”, made between 2003 and 2005, features scenes of bustling Ho Chi Minh City and captures their first impressions of the country. You see not only the beauty of the countryside, with dragonflies, lotus flowers and the paddy fields, but also the push and pull of the city’s crowded streets.

In 2012 they finished their second film, “Fleuve Rouge” (“The Red River”), which depicts the hard lives of rural people who have to move to the city to earn a decent living. The Red River, seen from beneath the Long Bien Bridge, provides the main backdrop.

“Cafe Froid” (“Cold Coffee”) came last year, examining the life of a Saigon girl whose mother has been killed in an accident, forcing her to abandon her studies to work at the family coffee shop.

The film shows the harsh realities of life that this girl and thousands of others endure as they toil day and night. “It’s the sad realities of Vietnamese society that we also wanted to portray in this film,” says Lansaque.

Through their films, the artists have become well known in Vietnam.

“We have a lot of Vietnamese friends,” Lansaque says. “They invite us to their homes. We’ve shared many moments with them, from Tet New Year celebrations to weddings, birthdays and other anniversaries.

“It’s easy to make friends with Vietnamese people. They’re very friendly and generous. We can become friends just sitting at a cafe or walking along the street.”

When in Hanoi, the couple usually stays at a small house in Hang Dieu Street, hanging out at a coffee shop nearby. “We sit there sipping iced tea and observe life,” Leroy says. “We talk to the locals and learn a lot from them. Our films are about the people we meet on the street. Their day-to-day lives interest us.”

They’re now working on their fourth film, a longer, light-hearted animation about a wandering dog that discovers dog meat being sold on the streets.

“Vietnam has brought us a lot of energy and inspiration,” says Leroy. “One day we might stop making films, but one thing is certain – we will never stop loving this country!”