Vietnam’s film industry has never before had such great opportunities to boom. This is the view of many filmmakers and producers at seminars, on the sideline of film festivals, and among gossip with friends.

A lot of independent art films directed and invested by Vietnamese or Vietnamese-born directors at recent international film festivals or leading cinema awards have sparked confidence in the cinema industry.

Nhung Dua Tre Trong Suong (Children of the Mist), the documentary film of the young female director Ha Le Diem, has resonated on international documentary film forums. The film relates the story of the teenage H'Mong girl who opposes the traditional customs of her people.

Diem's first documentary which bears her personal stamp traveled through tens of international film festivals and film weeks in 2022-2023 and won many important awards. The most prestigious award was being shortlisted on Oscar’s top 15 in documentary film genre. Even though it did not make it to the top 5 nominations, the achievement is still something to be proud of because as it is the first time a Vietnamese documentary film could go that far.

Tro Tan Ruc Ro (Glorious Ashes) directed by Bui Thac Chuyen marked his impressive comeback at the age of over 50. The masterpiece, an adaptation of two short stories by writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu, was created by Bui Thac Chuyen with his particular cinema language, beautiful and profound enough to reach the world.

Tro Tan Ruc Ro is the first Vietnamese feature film nominated for the main category at the Tokyo International Film Festival and is also the first Vietnamese film to win the Best Film award (Golden Balloon) at the Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes, France).

In Vietnam, the film has won important awards Golden Kite and Golden Lotus. It has represented Vietnam at Oscar 2024 and competed in the Best International Feature Film category.

At 2023 Cannes Film Festival, two Vietnamese names were in two top important award categories. Overseas Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung won the Best Director award for The Pot au Feu, a 100 percent French film that exploits the delicate relationship between love and food (chosen to represent French cinema to compete at the 2024 Oscar international film).

Young Vietnamese director Pham Thien An won the Camera D’or for Ben Trong Vo Ken Vang (Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell), a three-hour film produced in Vietnam.

Most recently, Sight and Sound, a prestigious magazine of BFI (British Film Institute) has named Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell and The Pot au Feu among the 50 best films in 2023 (the 24th and 36th positions, respectively). 

As for commercial films, Vietnam has had a successful year with record high revenue, despite the lower number of films screened.

In 2023, 25 Vietnam films were screened which brought an all-time high revenue (over VND1.4 trillion), which broke the record made in 2019 (VND1.2 trillion). This was for the first time the localization ratio of Vietnam’s films was higher than 40 percent and the number of films in top 10 best sellers was six, the highest figure so far.

Analysts commented that in 2023, Vietnam’s films could "crush" foreign films, including Hollywood blockbusters and South Korean films.

Nguyen Hoang Hai from CGV Vietnam, one of the largest cinema chains, commented that the revenue of VND500 billion of Nha Ba Nu (The house with no man) is proof showing how rapidly the cinema market has developed. VND500 billion was the total revenue of the entire Vietnam’s film industry gained in 2010, and 50 percent of the revenue of the entire industry in 2012.

Hai cited a report as saying that each Vietnamese person goes to the cinema 0.6 times a year, lower than South Korea’s (4 times a year) and Singapore’s (3.4)

Le Hong Lam