45 years ago, on September 22, 1979, the Government Council issued Decision No. 343-CP to establish the Vietnam Film Archives Institute (now the Vietnam Film Institute) under the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) with the function of depositing, archiving films and preserving cinema documents, researching film theory and technology, exploiting and disseminating cinema documents.
This event not only marks an important development step in the work of archiving moving images in Vietnam but also demonstrates the Party and State's interest and appreciation for the value of archival films - the national cultural heritage of moving images.
Minister Nguyen Van Hung awarded the Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the Vietnam Film Institute.
In the early days of its establishment, the Vietnam Film Archive faced numerous difficulties, with no permanent office and film storage; primitive and outdated storage conditions; the fierce border wars in the North and Southwest, and the film archives managed by the Institute were always in urgent need of evacuation and relocation to many places, from ATK Tuyen Quang to warehouse H79 Da Lat.
In 1989, after 10 years of establishment (September 22, 1989), the Vietnam Film Archives Institute officially had its own headquarters at 115 Ngoc Khanh (now 523 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh, Hanoi). Documentary films and original materials were brought together, creating favorable conditions for the work of preserving and archiving cinema throughout the country.
In 1991, the Vietnam Film Archives Institute was renamed the Vietnam Cinema Arts and Archives Institute. The Institute's scope of operations was expanded, and a team of film theory researchers and film producers was formed and developed to this day.
In 2003, the Vietnam Academy of Arts and Archives was renamed the Vietnam Film Institute (abbreviated as VFI).
Ms. Le Thi Ha, Director of the Vietnam Film Institute, said that over time, the Institute has gradually affirmed its position as the unit with the best film storage conditions in the country and in the Southeast Asian region. The Institute is preserving and preserving millions of meters of rare documentary films and documents of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Cinema. The collection includes nearly 20,000 film titles, equivalent to more than 80,000 16mm and 35mm films, tens of thousands of video tapes of all kinds preserved in the Institute's warehouses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City...
Minister Nguyen Van Hung speaks at the ceremony
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, President of the Vietnam Cinema Promotion and Development Association, Vice President of the Vietnam Council for Cultural and Artistic Theory and Criticism, said that up to now, the staff, civil servants and employees of the Vietnam Film Institute have performed well the tasks left by the previous generation with three main tasks: archiving, researching and introducing and exploiting the film heritage. In the coming time, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan hopes to cooperate more with the Vietnam Film Institute, especially in the field of research through works and books.
"Vietnamese cinema has been around for 70 years with many great achievements. We cannot develop if we do not inherit and promote the heritage we have. We hope to cooperate with the Vietnam Film Institute to have a research project that is in line with its functions and tasks, thereby helping professionals, audiences, and international friends to know more about Vietnamese revolutionary cinema as well as the unique cultural traditions of our country"...- Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan shared.
Prof. Dr. Tran Thanh Hiep, former Principal of the University of Theatre and Cinema, Chairman of the Council for Appraisal and Classification of Feature Films and Films combining many genres, shared: The Vietnam Film Institute plays an important role in the development of the cinema industry. In addition to the functions of collecting, archiving and preserving, the Vietnam Film Institute also has the valuable function of attracting and gathering many film talents in research work. Many valuable books in the field of cinema research are stored at the Film Institute. "We appreciate the contributions of the Film Institute in the work of collecting, preserving and spreading the values of Vietnamese cinema to the world" - Prof. Dr. Tran Thanh Hiep commented.
Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan and Prof. Dr. Tran Thanh Hiep shared at the ceremony
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Nguyen Van Hung, on behalf of the Ministry's leaders, sent best wishes to the leaders, officers, civil servants and employees of the Vietnam Film Institute through the periods.
According to the Minister, looking back over the past 45 years, the Vietnam Film Institute has achieved many good successes in performing its functions and tasks.
The Minister said that in the new period, facing rapid changes and increasing demands of 4.0 technology for the film industry in general, the Vietnam Film Institute in particular needs to innovate its approach and improve the quality of its operations. The Vietnam Film Institute has had many bright spots in performing its functions and tasks.
During the period when the whole country had to face the Covid-19 pandemic, cultural, artistic, sports and tourism activities were frozen, the cultural sector had to change its direction of operation, the Ministry's leaders assigned tasks to affiliated units, including the Vietnam Film Institute, to have many creative ways to use cinema to convey, reflect, and bring to the public precious films of the nation, products rich in humanistic intelligence that cinema artists have worked hard to create, to contribute to education, to arouse patriotism, national pride, mutual love and mutual assistance. These are "spiritual vaccines" through cinema, together with the whole country and people to overcome the pandemic to develop and build the country.
The second bright spot that needs to be recognized is that cinema is a cultural industry, along with tourism, which the Party and State have prioritized for development. In response to the need for innovation in the approach to promotion, the Vietnam Film Institute under the direction of the Ministry's leaders has coordinated with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and key localities of Vietnamese cinema, where there are many advantages for creativity and promotion of the national image, to organize many joint programs to develop tourism - cinema, create attraction, develop cinema associated with tourism, promote the beauty of the country and Vietnamese people to international friends. In the past time, the initial results show that we have approached, gone in the right direction and contributed to making Vietnamese tourism truly a bright spot in the country's economic picture.
Ms. Le Thi Ha, Director of Vietnam Film Institute, spoke at the ceremony.
The third bright spot that the Minister emphasized is that, in the process of deep international integration, Vietnam has not only implemented the commitments and international treaties that Vietnam has signed, including culture, but also, as a member of the International Federation of Film Archives and the Association of Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archives, the Film Institute has fulfilled its responsibilities, affirmed its position and prestige in international cooperation in the field of moving image archives, and has been recognized and highly appreciated by international friends.
Fourthly, the Film Institute has focused on scientific research in the direction of applied and creative science, undertaking scientific topics at the ministerial and unit levels. The research has provided the Ministry's leaders with scientific arguments to formulate policies on the development of the country's film industry.
The achievements in the 45-year journey show that the Film Institute has made rapid and remarkable progress. These achievements have been recognized by the Party, the State and the people; and many noble awards have been given.
On behalf of the Ministry's leadership, the Minister acknowledged, commended and congratulated the efforts and achievements that the Film Institute has made over the past 45 years.
Leaders of Vietnam Film Institute presented flowers to pay tribute to former leaders of the Institute through the ages.
The Minister noted that in the coming time, the task that the Film Institute needs to aim for is to develop towards a brighter future. The Minister emphasized the specific wish of the General Secretary and President To Lam at the recent 10th Central Conference, which is that our entire nation must enter a new era, an era of national development with many contents and elements discussed and unanimously approved by the Executive Committee, taking the people's opinions to decide at the upcoming 14th Congress.
"In the process of development, our Party continues to affirm that culture plays a very important role, deepening the theoretical system's connotations, especially emphasizing the role and mission of culture as endogenous strength, soft power, and the driving force for sustainable development of the country. The film industry and the Film Institute need to make even more efforts in this context. I hope that the Film Institute, in the spirit of clarifying the muddy and bringing out the clear, will recognize the ideas that suggest development in the coming period" - the Minister shared.
The Minister suggested that, based on the assigned functions and tasks, the Institute should focus on improving awareness and thoroughly grasping the Party's viewpoints and guidelines, and the legal policies issued by the National Assembly and the State, especially the Cinema Law. "In the process of implementation, discovering bottlenecks and practical issues that require further improvement to make recommendations and reports to competent authorities for consideration, the Film Institute should proactively coordinate with the Ministry's functional agencies to remove bottlenecks in the issue of film dissemination, especially films ordered by the State to ensure that valuable film works are brought to the public nationwide. Overcoming this bottleneck is creating a good driving force for cinema and the Film Institute to develop better" - the Minister emphasized.
Art program to celebrate the anniversary
The Minister requested that, in terms of expertise, preservation and storage is the main task, the Film Institute must ensure absolute safety of the film warehouse where cinematographic works, historical documents, and moving image documents are stored. These are precious documentary heritages of the Vietnamese nation and people. Damage, loss, and loss must not be allowed, and special attention must be paid to fire and explosion prevention. At the same time, promptly propose to the Ministry's leaders digitalization solutions to preserve precious films for long-term use for future generations.
It is necessary to continue scientific research, especially applied science, to continue providing arguments for the Ministry's leaders to formulate policies related to cinema in the coming time; further strengthen international cooperation, mobilize more resources to help the Institute complete the task of promoting the country's image and Vietnam's position in the international arena.
According to the Minister, to fulfill these requirements, more than ever, the Film Institute must build internal solidarity, a team of dedicated, experienced, professionally proficient officials who love the "common home", strive to contribute, and manage the unit well to truly build a strong Film Institute.
The Minister expressed his belief that the Film Institute will continue to make worthy contributions to the common development of the country's culture, sports and tourism sector and Vietnamese cinema. At the same time, he requested relevant Departments and Divisions under the Ministry to strengthen coordination and proactively promote responsibility to cooperate for mutual development, for the common benefit of the Vietnamese cinema industry. Minister Nguyen Van Hung also hoped that researchers and cinema lovers would continue to contribute to the Film Institute and the Ministry to fulfill the responsibilities assigned by the Party and the State.
At the ceremony, Minister Nguyen Van Hung awarded a Certificate of Merit to the Vietnam Film Institute for its outstanding achievements in the 2019-2024 period./.
Source: https://toquoc.vn/can-dam-bao-an-toan-tuyet-doi-kho-phim-noi-luu-tru-cac-tac-pham-dien-anh-tu-lieu-ve-lich-su-di-san-tu-lieu-quy-cua-quoc-gia-dan-toc-20240925145849753.htm
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