An outdoor film screening of the 5th Hanoi International Film Festival in October 2018

The event was announced at a press conference jointly organised by the Vietnam Cinema Department and the provincial Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism in Ba Ria-Vung Tau on September 13.

The organising board said more than 100 films in the categories of motion picture, documentary and science and cartoons will vie for the Golden Lotus awards. In addition, excellent directors, writers, actor and actress will be honoured at the event.

On the sidelines of the festival are film weeks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, an exchange between artists and audience, an exhibition on Vietnamese sea and island through the lens of cinema, and free film screenings.

This year event is expected to gather up to 1,500 guests from the film industry.

The National Film Festival was first launched in 1980 in Hanoi. It has been held every three years since then in different localities.

The 20th festival was held in Da Nang city, with the participation of 77 films. Director Le Thanh Son’s Em Chua 18 (Jailbait) won the Golden Lotus for best film. Director Vu Ngoc Dang won the Golden Lotus for best director while Quy Binh and Katie Nguyen were the best leading actor and actress.

The 20th film festival saw the introduction of the ASEAN Film Awards, which was given to Singapore's Yellow Bird. Indonesian Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo won the ASEAN award for best director, while the best leading actor and the best leading actress awards went to Singapore's Sivakumar Palakrishnan and the Philippines' Mary Joy Apostol, respectively. VNA