The film "Southern Forest Land" was not ordered by the State to be produced.

Was the movie "Southern Forest Land" ordered by the State?

Previously, at the film premiere on the afternoon of October 11 in Ho Chi Minh City, actor Tran Thanh, as co-producer, shared: "This film needs to cost at least 100 billion VND for us to break even."

Regarding the issue of ordering film production in 2022 from state budget funding, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Official Dispatch No. 1230/QD-BVHTTDL on May 26, 2022, signed by Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Ta Quang Dong.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism assigns the state budget expenditure estimate for ordering film production and funding film dissemination in 2022 to state budget spending units under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism according to the attached appendix.

Accordingly, the estimated state budget expenditure for ordering the production of feature films and funding the dissemination of feature films in 2022 includes only 4 projects:

"Phuong Chay" (produced by Feature Film Joint Stock Company I, estimated cost of over 3 billion VND); "Dao, Pho and Pinao" (produced by Feature Film Joint Stock Company I, estimated cost of 11 billion VND);

"Exposure" (produced by Giai Phong Film Joint Stock Company, estimated cost 7.7 billion VND); "Hong Ha female poet Doan Thi Diem" (produced by Nam Phuong Media LLC, estimated cost 9.5 billion VND).

The film project "Southern Forest Land" is completely absent from this list.

The name "Southern Forest Land" is not on the list of state budget expenditure estimates for ordering the production of feature films and funding the dissemination of feature films in 2022.

The Department of Cinema (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) said that ordering film production from the state budget is implemented annually.

Accordingly, the first step is to plan and register a film production plan for the year from script sources of state-owned and private film studios.

On September 5, 2018, Hoan Khue Film Production Joint Stock Company (HK Film) sent an open letter to the Department of Cinema regarding investment support for the film project "Dat Rung Phuong Nam" within the framework of the feature film production program ordered by the State.

Pursuant to Article 24 of the Cinema Law No. 62/2006/QH11 and Circular No. 15/2016/TT-BVHTTDL on the organization and operation regulations of the Literary Script Appraisal Council for films using the state budget, the Central Council for Appraisal and Selection of Feature Film Scripts for the 2017-2019 and 2019-2021 terms of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has taken steps to appraise the script of the film "Southern Forest Land".

Based on the appraisal results of the Central Council for Appraisal and Selection of Film Scripts of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on June 14, 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 1867/QD-BVHTTDL approving the script "Southern Forest Land" to register the plan to produce a feature film ordered by the State in 2022.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued Decision No. 1867/QD-BVHTTDL on approving the script "Southern Forest Land" to register the plan to produce feature films ordered by the State in 2022; Next to it is the document on the content of the script "Southern Forest Land".

According to the film production process using the state budget in Article 13 of the Cinema Law No. 62/2006/QH11, registering the film "Southern Forest Land" in Decision No. 1867/QD-BVHTTDL is the first step.

The production unit then builds a film production project profile (including storyboard and implementation plan; list of main members participating in making the film; total film budget; technical equipment for the project; financial capacity; production plan, schedule, and funding conditions) and submits it to the Film Production Project Selection Council of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for approval.

Based on the results of the Film Production Project Selection Council, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will issue a Film Production Decision based on the total budget approved by the State.

However, after balancing the approved budget for film production orders in 2022, along with a number of other objective reasons, the film was not on the list of works using funds ordered by the State.

Therefore, Hoan Khue Film Production Joint Stock Company produced the film itself from private funding.

According to the provisions of Clause 6, Article 13 of Decree 54/2010/ND-CP, the order and procedures for selecting film production projects using the state budget are as follows:

- Investors of film production projects using the state budget must announce in the mass media the topics and requirements of the film production project to be implemented in the next financial planning year and the conditions and procedures for organizations and individuals to submit scripts for selection within 90 days from the date of announcement;

- The investor of a film production project using the state budget shall announce the results of the selection of the film production project based on the advisory opinions of the Script Appraisal Council and the Film Production Project Selection Council established according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 13 of Decree 54/2010/ND-CP;

- Organizations and individuals submitting film production projects to film production project investors using the state budget must pay script appraisal fees according to current laws on fees and charges.

Script appraisal council and film production project selection council for films using state budget:

- Investors in film production projects using the state budget must establish a Script Appraisal Council and a Film Production Project Selection Council;

- The script appraisal council has at least 09 members, including representatives of competent state management agencies on cinema, film production project investors, screenwriters, directors and other members;

- The film production project selection council has at least 05 members, including representatives of the project investor, financial agency, and film production expert.

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