The first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF 2024) opened at the City Theater on the evening of April 6 with the participation of hundreds of domestic and foreign artists.
In his opening speech, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc affirmed: "Ho Chi Minh City is a large market in the field of film production and distribution in the whole country; with a strong workforce of filmmakers and a large number of films produced annually, very diverse, rich and of many genres.
Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City's hosting of the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival this time is also part of the "Project on the Development Strategy of Ho Chi Minh City's Cultural Industry to 2030", in which the Film Industry is identified as one of the 8 key industries, with an average growth rate of about 12%/year, reaching over 5,000 billion VND (of which Vietnamese films account for about 30% of revenue), contributing about 0.4% of GRDP by 2025".
Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai and Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong presented flowers to advisors of Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival.
Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc expressed his hope that through the International Film Festival, Ho Chi Minh City will increase investment attraction in cinema activities in particular and culture in general, contributing to the city's economic growth.
“The film festival is also a good opportunity for the city's film industry to meet and directly exchange with leading experts from Hollywood (USA), Europe, as well as developed countries in Asia such as Korea, Japan, etc.
Organizations operating in the city's film industry will also have the opportunity to introduce their capabilities and projects to partners to seek opportunities for production cooperation as well as export to new markets. In addition, filmmakers will participate in training courses, meet with investment funds and film studios," emphasized Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc.
Director Ly Hai and his wife, producer Minh Ha, at the opening ceremony of the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival.
This film festival brings together leading and veteran names of Vietnamese cinema such as People's Artist Tra Giang, People's Artist Kim Cuong, People's Artist Dao Ba Son, People's Artist Trinh Kim Chi, actors Hong Anh, Truong Ngoc Anh, Quyen Linh, director Quang Dung,...
Besides, there are big names in international cinema such as legendary director Kore-eda Harizuki (Japan), Oscar-winning editor of La la Land Tom Cross, former artistic director of Directors' Fortnight of Cannes Film Festival - Oliver Pere, horror film director A tale of two sisters - Kim Jee-woon (Korea), director of the hit film - Noryang - Kim Ha Min (Korea), producer of The Good, The Bad, The Weird - Jay Choi (Korea)...
HIFF 2024 has 3 main competition categories: Southeast Asian Film, First Film and Short Film with the Golden Star Awards for the best Southeast Asian film, Best Emerging Director Award, Best Short Film Award, Ho Chi Minh City Film Award.
In addition, there is a system of individual awards for directors, actors, cameramen, editors, visual effects...
Miss Thuy Tien is the media ambassador for the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival.
The 2024 HIFF will take place over 8 days (until April 13) with 60 films screened at all cinemas. There will also be film script project fairs, business connections of the Foreign Film Buyers and Distributors Association, film exhibitions, new film premieres, film crew exchanges, etc.
In addition, there are film-related seminars, through which filmmakers and cinema-loving audiences are connected. The festival has received more than 400 films, 56 projects participating in the Project Market and 87 scripts participating in the VietScript Lab.
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