Regarding a series of "bottlenecks", which have even lasted for many years, at the first quarter press conference of 2024 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh answered the press about the "hot" issues of the industry that are of public interest.
Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh answered the press .
Specifically, at the press conference surrounding the "mess" that has lasted for many years regarding the equitization of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio, including the divestment proposal of the investor - Vivaso, the Director of the Department of Cinema said that this is a very complicated and difficult issue, and will have to be implemented in accordance with the previous conclusion of the Government Inspectorate. In particular, also because of the "problem" of the Film Studio leading to 300 films not being preserved, being damaged, the Director said that previously, the film was produced and exploited and 1 copy was kept, but those copies were damaged, and the original Negative copies of the 300 films were all stored at the Vietnam Film Institute. Artists of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio have repeatedly proposed to restore the 300 damaged films, but I replied that it was not possible because they were all moldy and damaged. We should not consider the restoration option because the original copies are already at the Film Institute, what is the point of restoring them because it is costly, who can restore them?
300 films damaged at Vietnam Feature Film Studio.
“The Department of Cinema has responded many times about the damaged films. The films at the studio are archives, kept for exploitation, the originals are stored at the Vietnam Film Institute. Some employees at the studio have repeatedly proposed restoring the damaged films, however, the possibility of restoration is not there. We should not consider this either, because the originals of the films are still preserved at the Vietnam Film Institute. This is information that has been announced by the Vietnam Film Institute, the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have come down to directly inspect and work on the archiving work,” said the leader of the Department of Cinema.
Also at the press conference, regarding the success of the film “Peach, Pho and Piano”, the film industry leader said that this is a well-staged film with a cast that performed well. In addition, “Peach, Pho and Piano” received support from the media and online community despite not having any money spent on promotion and distribution. In particular, the film was released at a favorable time after the Tet holiday, a time when other content such as family life and society was saturated. It is not easy for a State-ordered film to have all three of these elements.
Scene from the movie "Peach, Pho and Piano".
Mr. Thanh also informed that the film was sold at half the normal ticket price. If the film was sold at the normal ticket price, under favorable release conditions, “Dao, Pho and Piano” could have made a profit of 21 billion VND instead of breaking even. Regarding the recent release of the film “Dao, Pho and Piano”, we had to discuss and negotiate with a number of units such as Cinestar, Beta, and the National Cinema Center. They are dedicated to cinema and do not benefit from electricity, water, or labor. We only sign contracts with units that accept 100% of the revenue to be paid to the state budget.
However, in response to the question about the "future" of State-ordered films, the Director said that the films are currently being shown at film weeks, festivals at home and abroad, at cultural centers of provinces and cities, and shown for free on television. For example, the film "Dao, Pho and Piano" is part of a pilot program to be released in theaters at the National Film Center, with the purpose of measuring the revenue-generating ability of State films. Over the years, the State has ordered investment in film production, but has never had funds for film distribution and promotion. Because the Department of Cinema does not have the function of distributing films but must have its own unit. After the film "Dao, Pho and Piano", the Department of Cinema proposed to the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a Decree on the distribution and dissemination of films using the State budget. Previously, due to the lack of specific regulations, film distribution encountered many difficulties.
Also at the press conference, regarding the censorship of films on the Internet, especially films with images of the “cow tongue line”, the Director of the Department of Cinema explained that due to limited manpower, there are only 10 officers in charge of inspection. They are divided into two shifts per day, watching about five films in one shift, often overloaded. Previously, the Department of Cinema proposed a reward of 200,000 VND for those who discover films with the “cow tongue line”, but it was not approved. The leaders of the cinema industry also hope that audiences will be aware of self-censorship and speak up when they discover violations.
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