Every year, a large number of Vietnamese film projects are released and many films are selected to compete internationally. Initial achievements with moderate awards bring good signals, but have not yet created a large-scale, significant mark.
With the strategy of developing Vietnam's cultural industry, including the film industry, Vietnamese cinema has favorable conditions to develop. However, confusion and shortcomings in many aspects are hindering the integration process of cinema.
The move marks the young generation
The 2022 Cinema Law inherits, amends, and supplements 32 articles, and stipulates 18 new articles compared to the 2006 Cinema Law, creating a favorable legal corridor for the cinema industry. In the trend of globalization and international integration, the cinema industry has invested in participating in and organizing international film festivals and Vietnamese film weeks abroad to contribute to promoting the image of Vietnam to the world.
According to statistics from the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), from 2010 to present, Vietnamese cinema has participated in nearly 150 international film festivals with 330 films; sent films to participate in the prestigious Oscar awards and many prestigious film festivals, such as: Cannes, Berlin, Shanghai, Tokyo, Busan... in which, some playgrounds have investment funds from the State.
In 2023, the film “Inside the Golden Cocoon” by young director Pham Thien An won the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival for best debut feature film. Previously, the documentary “The Children in the Mist” by young director Ha Le Diem was awarded the Best Director Award and the Special Jury Award for debut feature film at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival and entered the Top 15 prestigious Oscar awards for documentaries... Going back to previous years, a number of films by independent filmmakers who were young in age and career also won high awards at film festivals, such as: Busan (Korea), Fajr (Iran), Tokyo (Japan)...
According to experts, it is possible to link together the common points of the international award-winning films: Most of the works are humane, creative with the exploration to enrich the cinematic language and convey the characteristics of the land and people. There are films that are elaborately made, with many metaphors such as "The Children in the Mist" by Ha Le Diem about the "wife-stealing" custom of the H'Mong ethnic group with a series of still-painful issues.
In contrast to the background, every angle shows the majestic beauty of Vietnam's nature and the unique lives of ethnic minorities. The female director chose to delve into their lives to express the human spirit and, more deeply, gender issues.
Director, Meritorious Artist Dang Tat Binh, former Director of Vietnam Feature Film Studio 1, said: The cinema of any country will have to try to find new things to be able to develop and attract audiences. Vietnam is a country with many strange things, not only in terms of landscape and setting, but also strange in thinking. The challenge for filmmakers is how to capture and convey the story.
Along with sending films to international film festivals, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also organizes many film weeks and Vietnamese film days abroad and domestically, such as Vietnamese Film Week in Cuba, Argentina, Iran, Bahrain, Qatar. The Vietnam Cinema Spotlight program introduces 20 classic films of Vietnamese cinema at the 2023 Three Continents Film Festival in Nantes (France)...
After the 2022 Cinema Law allowed the expansion of the subjects allowed to organize film festivals in Vietnam, in addition to the Hanoi International Film Festival, in 2023, Vietnam had its second international film festival, the Da Nang Asian Film Festival, held in Da Nang, with initial successes with the participation of a number of quality films.
Deeper innovation needed
Objectively speaking, the international awards that Vietnamese cinema has won are still at a moderate level, not large enough in scale and magnitude to create a turning point; at international film festivals held in Vietnam, there are still mainly domestic films, not a large gathering of quality international films.
At film conferences, experts said that among the many reasons why domestic cinema has not yet reached international standards, the main obstacle is that the film industry itself does not have enough talented and creative human resources to make a strong impression; there is no close connection within the same film environment to coordinate smoothly and effectively. In addition, the capacity of producers to promote films internationally is still limited.
Regarding human resources, currently only the University of Theatre and Cinema (in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), the Military University of Culture and Arts, and a number of art training faculties in other universities provide the main output. However, the teaching staff is mainly theoretical, the proportion of personnel with practical film activities is low, and foreign lecturers are even rarer.
Supporting activities of the film industry for schools, such as: Creative camps, courses... have not been organized regularly and effectively...; and more importantly, the input is not strict enough, selective... has significantly impacted the human resources in the future. Looking back at the Vietnamese films that won international awards, there are not many marks from this human resource.
Directors and actors from "outsider" backgrounds who win awards deserve to be honored, but this is not a good sign, because they are influenced by other professions and can quit the film industry at any time.
In Vietnamese cinema, not to mention other human resources, right from the first stage, screenwriting is not considered a profession. Very few students study this job properly. Meanwhile, to meet the large number of films produced each year, a large number of screenwriters are needed. Dr. Dang Thieu Ngan, Korean cultural expert |
In countries with developed film industries, this is a promising career, with good remuneration and appropriate honors. They even have the right to choose directors and actors to make their works. Meanwhile, the domestic screenwriter team is still lacking and weak. Similarly, other personnel in the industry including directors, actors, cameramen... generally do not have deep enough professional and life experience, lack vision, and are not innovative... so it is very difficult to create highlights.
Director, People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh shared: "For me, every film must have a story, and must be touching, the form of expression must be simple, extremely simple, not complicated to go straight to the hearts of the audience. In particular, I pay great attention to the details in the film. A great Russian writer and playwright once said: Art is "a little" plus "a little". That "little" is the details of life. The emotions that cinema brings come from the hearts of the filmmakers to the hearts of the audience.
I love the characters, I love the people in the film, and I love the audience who watches my films. When people truly love, they will know how to cherish love." According to director Dang Nhat Minh, what Vietnamese cinema needs is that when it integrates internationally, people still recognize that it is the true Vietnamese people, culture, and soul, not hybrid, not imitative.
In recent years, the issue of budget investment and attracting foreign investment has been constantly raised in the film industry. However, according to experts, for the film industry to develop, fundamental changes must start from the roots, first of all from the training strategy. It is necessary to provide systematic, professional and comprehensive training to help the Vietnamese film industry have a rich and abundant human resource.
From that foundation, we can search for, discover, and select talents, contributing to bringing Vietnamese cinema to the world and integrating internationally. At a conference on the cultural industry, experts warned: Before discussing making a profit or stepping out into the world, each artist must be aware of their responsibility, work hard, and have great aspirations.
Many artists in our country are just absorbed in entertainment, running advertising shows..., honing their profession is something very luxurious. Director Nguyen Quang Dung affirmed: If there is a lack of human resources, even if we invest and try to operate in the spirit of the film industry, conquering the international playground is still a dream amidst many difficulties.
For Vietnamese cinema to reach international level is a long journey, requiring many changes from within. On that journey, initial successes have been recorded, but what has not been achieved always requires efforts, synchronous innovation from the training stage, the cultivation of talent, the dedication of the working team to the responsibility of management, support, and orientation units...
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