More than 30 years of Vietnamese cinema through the perspective of the former Director of the Department of Cinema

(VTC News) -

The book by Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, former Director of the Department of Cinema, is a monumental work that provides a multi-dimensional perspective on Vietnamese cinema from the renovation period until now.

The film criticism essay Sketching Vietnamese cinema in the period of renovation and integration by Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan - President of the Vietnam Cinema Promotion and Development Association, was released to the public on November 8.

Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan - President of Vietnam Cinema Promotion and Development Association.

The outline of Vietnamese cinema in the period of renovation and integration is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides an overview of the cinematographic works and styles of the directors, with criticisms of selected films that have more or less left their mark in the renovation period, such as: Retired General, Missing the Countryside, Guava Season, Quiet Town, The Glorious Time of Me Thao, Dong Loc Junction, The Wharf Without a Husband, The Bitter Taste of Love, Sand Life, Deserted Valley, Moon at the Bottom of the Well, Reed Grass, Buffalo Len Season, Distant Times, Living in Fear, Floating, Pao's Story...

The film's script and structure, situations in the film, the way the scenes are handled, the music, the art of character building and the actors' performances... are analyzed and criticized by the author using academic expertise in simple language.

Part two of the book includes a number of essays and articles on the development and ups and downs of Vietnamese cinema in the context of international integration and on the path to building a film industry. In this part, the author also outlines a “map” of international film festivals and the journey of Vietnamese cinema to the international stage.

Collection of film criticism essays "Sketch of Vietnamese cinema in the period of renovation and integration".

Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan analyzes the challenges and lessons for cinema, always concerned with the story of promoting the image of the country and Vietnamese people to the world through cinema.

"When writing, my purpose is to string together and systematize a journey of more than thirty years from when Vietnam entered the renovation process (1986) to early 2023 to produce a clear sketch.

This is also more than thirty years that I have been working tirelessly and passionately in this profession, despite having to overcome many difficulties and challenges. Therefore, I keep telling myself that I am a truly lucky person, because my whole life has been devoted to the profession I love, since I chose to major in film criticism theory to study and practice," Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan shared.

Sharing at the book launch, People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh said that he met Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan when she returned from studying in the Soviet Union in 1988 and read her first articles. He was the one who suggested that Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan collect valuable articles to publish in a book.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen The Ky, Chairman of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art, commented: " The author has been very diligent and subtle in writing criticisms of most of the films that have made an impression since the period of Vietnamese cinema's renovation and integration. This is very valuable because criticism is a difficult field, with always conflicting opinions and comments."

Besides being a prestigious film critic, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan can be seen as a visionary manager with dedicated articles on how to successfully build the Vietnamese film industry, bringing Vietnamese cinema to a worthy position on the regional and world film map.

Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan was born in 1963 in Hanoi. She graduated from the Faculty of Film Theory and Criticism (Cinematology) - Soviet State University of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1988. She was Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Director of the Department of Cinema, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Director of the Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF, 2012-2018).
She is currently serving as President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Cinema Development, Term I; Vice President of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts, Term V; Director of the Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF); Member of the Executive Committee of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC).
She was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2017. At CineAsia 2022, she received the award for “Asia-Pacific Region Copyright Contributor”.

Le Chi

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