A good "stepping stone" for filmmakers to develop

These are the shares of experts and directors in the film talk show "Bringing films to festivals: Why? How?" held on September 25.

Assessing the development of Vietnamese cinema in recent years, Director of the Asian Film Festival in Rome, Curator of the Italian Film Festival recently held in Hanoi Antonio Termenini said: "As a curator of the Asian Film Festival in Rome, in the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to watch many Vietnamese films and must affirm that Vietnamese films are wonderful. Besides, I have noticed that in the past 2-3 years, Vietnamese cinema has tended to be co-produced with other countries in the region. For me, this is a very innovative way of doing things, because there will be an exchange between different cultures, between different social factors in each country, thereby creating something new for the films. One example is the film "Rain on the Butterfly Wings" by director Duong Dieu Linh in collaboration with a Singaporean producer, this combination has also brought great success to the film when it won the award at the Venice Film Festival".

"Therefore, it can be seen that Vietnam has been very successful with this film co-production model and Vietnamese cinema is also a "bright spot" with many great films highly appreciated internationally" - Mr. Antonio Termenini emphasized.

Tham gia liên hoan phim: — Cinema talk space

Film critic Le Hong Lam also commented: "In the past, we had names like Phan Dang Di, Bui Thac Chuyen, Nguyen Hoang Diep... who were independent filmmakers who made a big splash at international film festivals. In recent years, Vietnam has also seen the emergence of many young independent filmmakers, who have created a "new wave" for cinema. Some of the films by young directors that have won many international film festival awards include: "Nhung de tre trong suong" by director Ha Le Diem; "Mua tren can buom" by director Duong Dieu Linh; "Cu li khong bao tron khong khoc" by Pham Ngoc Lan... These films have helped Vietnamese cinema gain international recognition. Although we know this is just the beginning, it is also a positive signal for the development of Vietnamese cinema in the future."

Also according to film critic Le Hong Lam: "In Vietnam, about ten years ago, there were only domestic film awards and festivals such as the Golden Kite Award, Golden Lotus Award... It was not until 2010 that Vietnam organized the first international film festival, the Hanoi International Film Festival, then in 2023, the Asian Film Festival - Da Nang and in early 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival. Compared to the world, Vietnam organizes and develops international film festivals very slowly. But clearly, in the trend of Vietnamese cinema being on the rise, organizing international film festivals is very important, because this is a place for independent filmmakers and art filmmakers to have the opportunity to develop, thereby raising the status of filmmakers. At the same time, at international film festivals, there are also many workshops and sponsorship programs for filmmakers, this is an opportunity for young filmmakers find funding for his film projects".

"And film festivals not only benefit filmmakers, but they are also an opportunity for the public to better understand the country's and the world's cinema. Because, if audiences are normally only interested in commercial films, film festivals are an opportunity for the public to access films by independent filmmakers and participate in conversations with directors and filmmakers. There, they will hear about the journey of making films, the story behind each film, thereby helping the public better understand the culture and people of each country after the films they watch" - said film critic Le Hong Lam.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Antonio Termenini shared: "In recent years, Vietnam has had many more international film festivals, which is very encouraging, especially in the context of countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, ... the importance of film festivals is showing signs of decline for many reasons. Therefore, the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival or the Da Nang Asian Film Festival is a very important playground for domestic and regional filmmakers."

From the perspective of an independent filmmaker, screenwriter and director Nguyen Le Hoang Viet said: "For filmmakers like us, the most important thing when finishing a film is to share that film with the audience. Therefore, bringing the film to participate in the film festival will create opportunities for filmmakers to bring their films closer to the audience. The film festival is also an event to honor the products of filmmakers and is a place where many filmmakers around the world come to attend. Therefore, when participating in the film festival, we will be able to connect and interact with many other filmmakers to exchange experiences, as well as learn from their filmmaking methods to develop ourselves. Besides, the film festival is also a place for filmmakers to find film distributors to exchange, from there, they can earn profits and reinvest in their next projects."

"Therefore, it can be affirmed that participating in film festivals will be a good "stepping stone" for filmmakers to develop their careers in the future" - screenwriter and director Nguyen Le Hoang Viet shared more.

According to director Ha Le Diem: "Participating in film festivals, especially prestigious film festivals, is not easy for independent filmmakers, because they have very strict requirements. Therefore, I think that filmmakers, especially young filmmakers, should not be discouraged when rejected, but should believe in their abilities and the work they are doing to continue to create more attractive films to bring to domestic and international film festivals"./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/tham-gia-lien-hoan-phim-buoc-dem-tot-cho-cac-nha-lam-phim-phat-trien-20240925210055886.htm