How to avoid boredom

+ Congratulations to the DANAFF Organizing Committee for having a professional and successful LH. In 2023, DANAFF also made its own mark for the first time. So what are the highlights of DANAFF 2024, Madam?

- DANAFF is oriented to organize under the theme of “Asian Film Festival” because expanding to regions around the world is also very good, but anyway, Vietnamese cinema is still more connected with Asia. With the slogan “Asian Bridge”, we want to deeply integrate with the world, so we choose to focus on French cinema and French films on Vietnamese themes because French cinema and Vietnamese cinema have many connections. When choosing such a theme and focus, we feel that it is in line with the theme of the Film Festival, which is to build a bridge from Asia to Europe, from the East to the West.

In addition, the professionalism of DANAFF II is enhanced by both in-depth discussions on the profession and exchanges related to mechanisms and policies. This is practical for both filmmakers and managers. The seminar on French cinema and its relationship with Vietnamese cinema evokes many academic thoughts. Researchers can find here rich materials on the relationship between the two cinemas of France and Vietnam. Meanwhile, the seminar on film co-production shares international experiences and suggests solutions for developing cooperation, attracting film crews, etc.

The film “Flip Side 7: A Wish” received the NETPAC Award (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema).

DANAFF 2024 will also be the first time the Film Achievement Award will be presented. We will try to maintain this award, perhaps annually or at an appropriate time, and plan to open it to award outstanding filmmakers in the Asian region. When the award is extended to foreign filmmakers, it means that the Festival affirms its professional reputation.

In terms of audience, last season there were some screenings that weren’t really crowded, but this time the audience had to line up to get tickets and the tickets were sold out right before the festival opened. The response from the audience was also very good, many screenings had interesting Q&A sessions with the film crew like at any international festival.

+ To have a quality film festival, first of all, it is necessary to gather many good films. What is your comment on the selection of films participating in DANAFF 2024 and the evaluation of the jury?

- The film selection at this festival is quite good. The films competing in the Asian Cinema program are all very strong and the cinematic language of these works is also quite unique. A foreign film expert told me that he had just been to a few film festivals and saw that the film selection had weak films, but that did not happen at DANAFF 2024.

Of course, with a film festival, people will think of selecting art films. But in Vietnam, if we do that, we will have no films because the number of art films is very small. Of the 40-50 films produced each year, only 1-2 are art films, and some years there are even no films at all. Therefore, for Vietnamese films, we choose the best quality films released during the year and films that are loved by the audience.

We are very happy that there is a filmmaker who has always refused to submit films to film festivals, but this time has participated. Submitting films to the competition will make filmmakers pay more attention to professionalism and artistic quality in addition to revenue goals. Notably, at DANAFF 2024, the two Vietnamese films in the Asian Film category competing are both very strong, with personality in both storytelling and cinematic language. And as we know, one film won the Best Film Award and the other won the Director Award.

On the Jury side, DANAFF 2024 invited leading experts in world cinema. Last year, the festival only had Asian experts, but this year there are experts from France (Former President of the Cinefondation of the Cannes Film Festival), Germany (Director of the Berlin Film Festival 2024 - 2029), actress Tran Nu Yen Khe (who made an important contribution to the successful films of director Tran Anh Hung), and famous Asian directors. These experts bring a very objective and accurate perspective.

Besides, there are two people who can be said to be the most important of Busan Film Festival, founder and former President Kim Dongho and new President Park Kwangsu. Therefore, we have organized 4 seminars and discussions, while last year there were only 2 seminars. The seminars and discussions have very practical content, opening up many issues for domestic filmmakers as well as for foreign experts and filmmakers to understand more about Vietnamese cinema.

The film “A girl named Ann” by director Yu Irie won two awards: Best Actress and the Special Jury Prize.

+ As a film critic, what does the lack of an award for best screenwriter reflect about Vietnamese cinema, madam?

- For a long time now, the scripting stage in Vietnam has been quite weak, we always lack good scripts to make movies. There are some movies whose scripts pose many problems but are too ambitious, making viewers "confused" or indifferent.

In my opinion, the most important thing in a film is the way it tells the story. Therefore, even if the script does not “impose” on big issues, but exploits subtle and profound features, it will open up or give the director inspiration to have a good and unique way of telling the story. The 10 films participating in the Vietnamese film category recently were not art films, so the discoveries in storytelling as well as in the language of cinema are still limited.

I think this honestly reflects the current state of Vietnamese cinema. If we only choose art films, it will be very difficult for us to have a film category for Vietnamese films. But it is also necessary to encourage domestic filmmakers, so the Organizing Committee has opened this category to invite and select films that serve the market. We also completely respect the decision of the Jury. The fact that the Jury did not choose the screenplay award is something we have to accept.

+ Some foreign filmmakers shared that they came to DANAFF - a very "young and small" festival - because they felt that big festivals were somewhat boring. In your opinion, how can DANAFF avoid this boredom when there will be more festivals in the future?

- This is what the organizers have to strive for every year, to create a mark in each Film Festival. Of course, it takes a lot of effort and can be considered a pressure, a burden for the Organizing Committee, but it needs to be done when DANAFF is building its brand. To prepare for season 3, there are things that have to be done right now. It is expected that this August, the concept for next year will have to be released. The goal is quality: quality in the film categories, quality in the film introduction categories, the focus categories... At the same time, we must invite prestigious people, famous people and, importantly, we must create something new.

+ Thank you!

Khanh Ngoc (Implementation)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lien-hoan-phim-chau-a-da-nang-lam-sao-de-tranh-nham-chan-post303021.html