4 Mai cinemas discovered for people under 18 years old, proposed fine of 70 million VND

Mr. Pham Van Dung - Chief Inspector of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City - at the press meeting on the morning of March 1 - Photo: MI LY

On the morning of March 1, at a press conference, Mr. Pham Van Dung - Chief Inspector of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City - said that through inspection, he discovered 4 cinema complexes violating the law by allowing people under 18 years old to watch the movie Mai, out of 7 inspected cinema complexes.

Currently, the department's inspectors cannot announce the names of the four violating theater chains. This information will be included in the official penalty decision to be issued later.

Proposed fine of 70 million VND for showing Mai movie to people under 18 years old

The violation is "Not ensuring that movie viewers are of the correct age according to the movie classification" in Decree No. 38/2021/ND-CP dated March 29, 2021 of the Government, amended and supplemented by Decree 128/2022/ND-CP dated March 30, 2022 and Decree 129/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government.

Through inspection, there were 4 cinema clusters violating the regulation of showing the movie Mai to people under 18 years old - Photo: DPCC

Currently outside of Mai movie , the department's inspectors have not discovered any violations in other films, because this time, among the films being shown in theaters, only Mai is classified as 18+.

The Department Inspectorate is consulting on a decision to impose administrative penalties to be submitted to the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for promulgation next week.

The prescribed fine is 60 - 80 million VND, the department's inspector advised the average fine is 70 million VND.

The Department Inspectorate will continue to summarize the inspection results of districts in Ho Chi Minh City to report to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Previously, implementing the direction of the Ministry, the Department Inspectorate sent an official dispatch to strengthen inspection and handling to the Department of Culture and Information of Thu Duc City and 21 districts of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Department of Culture and Information of the above localities has organized an interdisciplinary inspection team of culture and society of the district and ward, including the police.

Regarding the police entering the theater to check the age of the audience with the inspection team, the Department Inspector said: "The inspection is in accordance with the provisions of the law."

Find flexible testing methods that do not affect audiences and theaters

Recently, a clip of an inspection team including people wearing police uniforms entering a theater was spread on social media, attracting public attention.

Commenting on social networks, some viewers also said that the inspection interrupted their movie viewing, affecting their emotions.

Currently, the movie Mai is a rare 18+ movie in Vietnamese theaters, so inspection teams only discovered violations with this movie - Photo: DPCC

Responding to the question of whether to change the method - for example, checking audience documents before or after the movie screening instead of entering the theater in the middle, Mr. Pham Van Dung said the inspection team will consider flexible methods that do not affect the audience and the theater.

However, the inspection must also ensure that clear evidence is found so that the punishment is convincing.

The inspector said that in the future, age checks will still be carried out with other films, not just this period and with the film Mai.

Ho Chi Minh City has no pressure on inspection.

Responding to Tuoi Tre Online earlier, the Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed that checking the age of viewers watching 18+ movies is the responsibility of all provinces and cities, not just Ho Chi Minh City.

As for Ho Chi Minh City, this is the locality with the most developed film market in the country, so the number of audiences going to the cinema is very large. Some of the recent inspection images spread on social networks also came from cinemas in Ho Chi Minh City.

Regarding this, the Department Inspector said that fulfilling assigned responsibilities and duties is a source of pride, not pressure. What is important is that the tasks are performed well and people comply with regulations.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phat-hien-4-rap-chieu-phim-mai-cho-nguoi-duoi-18-tuoi-de-nghi-phat-70-trieu-dong-20240301100208767.htm