Bidding for state-ordered films still faces many difficulties

At the regular press conference for the third quarter of 2024 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOCST), many issues were raised and answered, such as licensing Vietnamese films to participate in international film festivals or bidding for films ordered by the State.

According to Mr. Vi Kien Thanh, Director of the Department of Cinema, the 2022 Cinema Law stipulates that Vietnamese films participating in international film festivals must be granted a film classification license. Films that violate the law will be notified by the Department of Cinema to the Ministry Inspectorate and the Vietnamese Embassy in the country where the film festival is held to stop the screening of the film.

Mr. Vi Kien Thanh - Director of the Department of Cinema

"However, in reality, there are cases where the time between the Film Festival and the completion of the film is very short. After completing the film, the producers immediately register with the international film festivals to have the film included in the list of participants, while continuing to apply for a distribution license at the Department of Cinema. Without this license, the film will not be officially screened at the Film Festival programs. According to the records of the Department of Cinema, in the past, there were no cases of Vietnamese films not having a license to participate in international film festivals," Mr. Vi Kien Thanh affirmed.

Sharing with the press about the difficulties in bidding for State-ordered films, such as the case of the recently released film “Ba gia di bui”, the Director of the Department of Cinema emphasized that the film received support, positive reviews and effects from the press and viewers. However, regarding the bidding activities for State-ordered films, from the case of this film, there are still many difficulties.

“The Cinema Law stipulates that the topics ordered by the State include content about leaders, history, revolution, ethnic mountainous areas and children. In addition, topics about family, preserving cultural identity, etc. must be bid. Cinema is a special field, bidding naturally has its shortcomings, especially when the factors of script and production unit always go together. It is impossible to put a script of one production unit up for bid and hand it over to another unit for production. If the State spends money to own a certain number of scripts, then we can put the script up for bid and build a film production project,” said Mr. Vi Kien Thanh.

Regular press conference for the third quarter of 2024 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

According to Mr. Thanh, the film "Ba gia di bui", adapted from the work of writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu, is about family culture so it must be bid. "The success of the film Ba gia di bui is a motivation for the Northern film team, and also a "comfort" for the Cinema Department before a series of difficult procedures in the bidding stage".

Sharing about the release plan of the film Bà già đi bùi, Mr. Vi Kien Thanh said: “Like other State-ordered films, the film Bà già đi bùi will be included in film screening programs, film weeks serving political tasks and sent to localities for free screening to serve the people. However, to screen with revenue like Đào, Phở and Piano is very low and almost non-existent."

Source: https://vov.vn/van-hoa/san-khau-dien-anh/dau-thau-phim-nha-nuoc-dat-hang-con-gap-nhieu-kho-khan-post1125933.vov