Successfully organizing the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival contributes to promoting the image of Vietnam

(To Quoc) - On the afternoon of October 31, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Steering Committee and the Organizing Committee of the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF VII) met to review preparations for the festival. Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong, Head of the Steering Committee and Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Dinh Thi Mai, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee of the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival chaired the meeting.

Also attending the meeting were: Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh, Head of the Organizing Committee of HANIFF VII; and members of the Steering Committee and Organizing Committee of the Film Festival.

Reporting on the preparations for the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival, Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh said that regarding the selection of films to participate in the Film Festival, the Organizing Committee has established a film preliminary selection committee, working since March 2024. The preliminary selection committee has viewed and pre-selected feature films and short films from more than 500 films submitted from 51 countries and territories.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong and Head of the Central Propaganda Department Dinh Thi Mai chaired the meeting.

As of October 29, 2024, the Organizing Committee has selected films for the programs with a total of 117 films participating in the programs of the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival (including 65 foreign films and 52 Vietnamese films). All films have been assessed for content and granted a Film Classification License.

The long film competition program includes 11 films (10 films from world cinema and 1 Vietnamese film, which is the film Ngay Xua Co Mot Truyen Tinh - director Trinh Dinh Le Minh, produced by Hoan Khue Film Production Joint Stock Company); The short film competition program includes 19 films, including: 11 short films including feature films, documentaries, and animations under 60 minutes long from world cinema; 8 Vietnamese short films; The World Cinema Panorama Program (Panorama) includes 39 films, including 24 feature films and 15 short films from world cinema; The Contemporary Vietnamese Film Program includes 34 films, including 12 short films (documentaries, animations); 22 feature films; The Cinema Focus Program of a Country: "German Cinema" includes 6 films.

In particular, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital, HANIFF VII will have for the first time a film program about Hanoi, screening 9 Vietnamese films, including 4 feature films, 1 documentary and 4 animated films. Of these, 4 feature films are award-winning films at domestic and international film festivals, and have received the State Prize and the Ho Chi Minh Prize for literature and art.

Regarding the organization of film screening programs, Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh said that the competition films are selected from all cinemas in the world, with the condition that the films have never competed at any international film festival in Asia for feature films.

Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Dinh Thi Mai speaks at the meeting.

Regarding the organization of other events, including the Film Project Market held from November 8 to 10, 2024 at Daewoo Hotel, the implementing partner is BHD Vietnam Co., Ltd. There are 8 participating projects, including 4 foreign film projects from the following countries: Malaysia, Türkiye, India, Bangladesh; and 4 Vietnamese film projects.

Within the framework of the Festival, there will be 2 seminars held. Seminar 1 with the theme "Spotlight on German Cinema" on November 8; Seminar 2 with the theme "Developing the production of films exploiting historical themes and adapted from literary works" on November 9.

The exhibition, co-organized by the Film Institute with the theme "Vietnam's UNESCO-recognized heritages - Experience through cinema footage", opened at 11am on November 7 and will run until November 11 at the Daewoo Hotel, Hanoi.

Regarding cinemas, the Organizing Committee has worked with the following cinema clusters: National Cinema Center; BHD Pham Ngoc Thach; CGV Nguyen Chi Thanh. The cinema clusters will coordinate work such as: screening films for the Jury and free screenings for the audience; Propagating the film screening program (before the Opening Ceremony); organizing artist exchanges for competing films, Vietnamese films and some films in other programs; The Film Screening Subcommittee organizes voting for the most favorite Vietnamese films by the audience...

At the meeting, members of the Organizing Committee in charge of each subcommittee including: Reception Subcommittee, Content Subcommittee, Press and Propaganda Subcommittee... reported on the progress of assigned tasks, as well as the content related to the preparation work for the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival to ensure the set schedule.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Dinh Thi Mai emphasized that the success of the Hanoi International Film Festival lies in the quality of the participating films. Therefore, Ms. Dinh Thi Mai requested that the Organizing Committee must focus on the content of the films participating in the Festival to ensure political and ideological quality, aesthetic orientation, and high educational and humanistic values. The films must aim to introduce the unique features of cultures, as well as promote the people of each country.

Ms. Dinh Thi Mai requested that the functional agencies of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism closely coordinate with the People's Committee and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hanoi to effectively coordinate the implementation of the Film Festival. In addition, it is necessary to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security... in foreign affairs as well as security and order, to ensure the best conditions for the successful organization of the Film Festival.

Overview of the meeting

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong emphasized that the time left for the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival is not much, members of the Organizing Committee and sub-committees need to be proactive and active in implementing assigned tasks. In particular, the content of the films participating in the Film Festival must be guaranteed to be in line with the political ideology; the Workshops need to have clear scripts.

The Deputy Minister also noted that preparations for the red carpet, Opening and Closing ceremonies must ensure artistry, solemnity, safety, science and efficiency.

The Deputy Minister hopes that with the careful preparation of the Organizing Committee, the active coordination of the Committees, Ministries, and Branches, especially the presence of film crews, artists, and domestic and international guests, the 7th Hanoi International Film Festival - 2024 will be successfully organized, contributing to promoting the image of Vietnam - a new destination for world cinema./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/to-chuc-thanh-cong-lhp-quoc-te-ha-noi-lan-thu-vii-gop-phan-quang-ba-hinh-anh-mot-viet-nam-diem-den-moi-cua-dien-anh-the-gioi-2024103122035609.htm