Mr. Martino Cipriani - an Italian filmmaker who is researching Vietnamese cinema heritage affirmed this when sharing about current film preservation.
Can you share your perspective on the development of Vietnamese cinema?
Vietnam has a unique historical background with many different periods such as colonial, revolutionary, Doi Moi and post-Doi Moi. Each period corresponds to its own characteristic cinema products.
Due to historical and quality factors, cinema of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s seems to represent the peak of Vietnamese cinema.
At that time, cinema was fully funded by the government. Artists were assigned to make films and were supported with all necessary equipment. Vietnamese filmmakers and directors were free to experiment with cameras, editing and lighting, creating attractive films.
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Martino Cipriani, a lecturer in Digital Film Production at RMIT University, was filming a music video in Thailand in 2019. |
The contemporary Vietnamese film industry is developing rapidly but without any order. It is not a strong industry because although there are good film production units, many creative ideas and excellent films, the industry as a whole is not strong.
Cinema has evolved into a private industry with film production companies. Hanoi used to be the center of cinema, but now Ho Chi Minh City, with its more entrepreneurial population, has taken the lead.
This statement may be controversial, but personally I find Vietnamese films from the 1960s and 1970s more appealing than commercial products today, even though there are now competitive filmmakers.
Released in 1961, A Phu and His Wife is a film I absolutely love and illustrates exactly what I have been looking for. The visual style is extraordinary and some of the scenes are very different. The film depicts the social life of ethnic minorities in the Northwest of Vietnam in the context of the socialist revolution.
Although the title is A Phu's Wife , from beginning to end, the wife is the main character and she is like an amazing and courageous heroine throughout the film.
What is your opinion on film storage and preservation in Vietnam?
Film heritage is a fascinating but challenging subject. The main difference between film and digital is technology – it is a revolution in the way we create this culture.
What is the meaning of heritage? Is it a category of cultural memory? Is it a work of art? Many people do not consider films to be so necessary that they need to be preserved. Films degrade faster than we think, so we need to protect them if we do not want them to disappear completely.
In the past, cinema was more popular in Vietnam, received more attention from central agencies and had stronger financial support. This explains why films from the 1960s and 1970s are so well preserved.
More efforts are needed to overcome technical limitations and lack of funding. With the help of archivists, the Vietnam Film Institute has been collecting and preserving Vietnamese films. With such a large number of films here, the Institute owns one of the finest collections in Southeast Asia.
However, they still need more funding because maintaining the archive is a costly job. Meanwhile, the fund for preserving Vietnamese films is extremely limited.
I am also working on an updated version of A Phu's Wife by collaborating with the Film Institute to digitize it. We are currently seeking funding to make this ambition a reality.
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| The character Mi in the movie "A Phu's Wife". |
Do you have any advice for Vietnamese filmmakers?
My recommendation is to be aware of the limitations and problems of using digital media. These media provide us with a wealth of information in a timely manner and the ability to access everything instantly from anywhere in the world.
Although less expensive, this medium is not sustainable in the long run. The data is extremely sensitive and vulnerable, especially in the film industry. Preserving digital files is a major problem because of the high cost and currently unavailable resources.
Filmmakers should consider their work and how it will be viewed in the years to come. If a film is to be considered timeless even after 50 years, like a work of art, then simply saving it on a hard drive will not help preserve it for posterity.
Another important issue is that filmmakers should not preserve their films themselves. They do not send their films to the Vietnam Film Institute - an agency that is responsible for preserving films but is currently not receiving new films.
So while we may have all the movies made in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, we also have the potential to lose current movies.
So what can be done to improve the preservation of Vietnam's cinematic heritage?
Preserving Vietnam's cinematic heritage is a shared responsibility of the film industry, public and non-profit film archives, and the public.
Just as making a successful film requires the total dedication and effort of hundreds of people, ensuring the survival of a film will require the collaborative effort of all film agencies and organizations.
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| Preserving Vietnam's cinematic heritage remains a difficult problem. (Photo: Freepik). |
At RMIT, as a higher education institution, I want students to grasp and understand the instability of digital media and how things work technically to maintain and interpret our cultural heritage for future generations.
Recent initiatives by the film industry must be continued and expanded for the survival of Vietnamese cinema heritage, with independent efforts by each studio as well as through alliances between studios and archives to combine the strengths of both sides.
Vietnamese cinema has been an important cultural expression of the country over the past century and deserves more public attention.
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