Minister Nguyen Manh Hung: "Happiness is a great thing but it is within us"

The photo and video contest “Happy Vietnam 2024” awarded gold medals to two works “Sweet Happiness” (author Vu Viet Hoa) and Gia Lai - Epic Land (author Nguyen Van Hoan).

On the evening of December 11, at the Hanoi Opera House, the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists held the opening ceremony of the exhibition and announced the awards for the Happy Vietnam 2024 photo and video contest.

Delegates cut the ribbon.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized: “This is an important event to honor people across the country, overseas Vietnamese and international friends, applying digital technology to create photos and videos about the country and people of Vietnam.”

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung delivered the opening speech.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that after the 2023 award ceremony, the Ministry of Information and Communications organized 15 exhibitions at home and abroad; transferred them to ministries, central departments, branches and many localities to organize exhibitions at major foreign affairs activities; sent works to the Vietnamese Embassy in Venezuela, Australia, Sweden, Italy and many representative agencies abroad... to introduce the works to the public.

Delegates visit the exhibition.

More than 10,000 stories about the peaceful, beautiful and happy Vietnam have been recorded by the authors in pictures and videos. From the mountains to the cities, from the mainland to the islands, from familiar things to heroic moments of the nation.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung assessed that many authors have perspectives that, although not professional, are vivid and very close to real life, reflecting the many aspects of the concept of happiness. Although the films are very short and the photos are taken by phones, the authors still tell vivid stories about the lives around them.

“Digital technology helps people record, preserve and share the happy moments they see. Happiness is a great thing but it is within us. Happiness is familiar and simple. But many times we have happiness but pass by it, forget it or we pass by without knowing it. The Happy Vietnam photo and video contest also conveys the message to save moments of joy and sadness but all towards a better life,” Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed.

This is the second year the contest has been held online on the Vietnam image promotion platform at https://vietnam.vn. In 2023, the contest attracted more than 7,000 entries. This year, the number has increased to more than 10,300 entries from nearly 6,900 authors, including 600 foreign authors and nearly 270 overseas Vietnamese authors.

The jury and the organizing committee selected 60 videos and 150 photos to display at the exhibition, of which 34 best works were awarded prizes.

Gold medals were awarded to the work Sweet Happiness by author Vu Viet Hoa, the photo of a disabled family in a health run, photo category and the work Gia Lai epic land by author Nguyen Van Hoan) video category.

Silver medals, Photo category, were awarded to the works: Racing on the construction site of 500kV line 3 (Tran Huy Hung); Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte cycling around Hanoi (Duong Van Giang); Video category: Leng keng di huong – For a happy Vietnam (Tue Giang, Khanh An, Dieu Huong, Nhat Anh), A Tale of Phu Quoc (Dau Van Duy).

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung and Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Ngo Dong Hai presented awards to the gold medal winners.