VietNamNet Bridge – After two years of preparation, the first international film festival in Vietnam opened on October 17 in Hanoi.

International film festival in Asia

Below is a review of some international film festivals in neighbouring countries, Vietnam’s integration into the world movie arena and its preparation for the festival.

Thailand and the Philippines organize four  international film festivals a year. Singapore has up to six international film festivals. Even Cambodia holds three film festivals. Vietnam has its first event now, which equals it to Indonesia. Southeast Asian countries that have never organized any international film festivals are Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei (source: britfilms.com).

Some Asian countries hold many international film festivals, which are organized every year very systematically . China has around seven events a year, South Korea  eight events, Japan  17 and India up to 39 events.

The festivals range from  new ones and already established, famous and less-known film festivals, but what all Asian countries have in common is that, through organising the festivals, they are trying to build a reputation for their movie industries . Some events have become famous in the world, for example Pusan of South Korea, Bangkok of Thailand, Shanghai of China and Tokyo of Japan.

There are two Asian international film festival, Shanghai and Tokyo, which have beenlisted among top 12 international film festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Locarno, San Sebastian in Western Europe, Moscow and Karlovy Vary in Eastern Europe, Montreal in North America, Mar Del Plata in South America, Cairo in North Africa.

The quality of  festivals is evaluated through the quality of films sent in, the names of guests, the jury and the professionalism in the organisation of the event.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand’s Bangkok Film Festival has become a reputed brand.

Vietnam’s integration

 Director Bui Thac Chuyen, actresses Hai Yen and Linh Dan of "Lonely"
at the Cannes Film Festival.

Vietnam won its first international awards in 1959, when  gold medals were given to a documentary by director Bui Dinh Hac, entitled “Water flows to Bac Hung Hai” , at the Moscow Film Festival, and the special prize of the Berlin Film Festival went to documentary “The Child of the Sea”.

In 1962, a feature film “White Eys”, by directors Nguyen Van Thong and Tran Vu won the special prize of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in former Czechoslovakia.

In 1966, a Vietnamese actress won the Best Actress title at the 13^th Asian Film Congress for her role in “Eyes of Ex-girlfriend”.

After that, Vietnam won some prizes at the Moscow Film Festival. The highest prize was a gold medal for the feature film “Fallow Field” by director Nguyen Hong Sen in 1981.

In 1970, “My People” by director Tran Van Thuy took the Silver Pigeon Prize at the Leipzig Film Festival in Democratic Republic of Germany.

Some overseas Vietnamese directors won prizes at the most prestigious international film festivals in the world for their movies about Vietnam.

Tony Bui, a Vietnamese independent film director in the US, won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize, at the Sundance Film Festival 1999 for his film “Three Seasons”.

Tran Anh Hung, a Vietnamese French film director, saw  “The Scent of Green Papaya” nominated for the Best Foreign Film at Oscar 1993 and his follow-up “Cyclo” (1995) winning a top prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

Recently, some Vietnamese films were applauded at international film festivals, including “Night Trip”, “White Silk Dress”, “Bi, Don’t Be Afraid”, “Lonely”, “Don’t Burn”, etc.

The ongoing international film festival in Hanoi is not the first of its kind in Vietnam. Before the country’s unification in 1975, several international film events were held in southern Vietnam. In September 1973, the fifth Vietnam Movie Day in Saigon attracted 11 Asian countries. In 1999, Vietnam hosted the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.

With the ongoing festival, Vietnam hopes to create a prestigious international film festival.

PV