Held every two years, the festival brings cinema lovers valuable experiences and emotions, according to Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong.

Addressing the opening ceremony, he said the festival is organised in the context of global integration in many fields and the influence of Industry 4.0. National cinema is an important sector in the strategy to develop cultural industries.

“The festival will feature 104 films in different categories, reflecting social issues and people’s concerns and emotions,” he said.

“Audiences will engage more actively in the event by directly voting for the favourite feature films to win the People’s Choice award.”

 
The festival has gradually become the nation’s biggest and most famous film event.

“The event is an opportunity to promote the Vietnamese film industry, honour outstanding cinematographic works with great values and high levels of creativity; to praise artists, producers and publishers for their great works and contributions to the development and integration of the national film industry; to discover and encourage new talents; to seize co-operation opportunities in production and expansion of the film market; and to get better understanding of public tastes,” said Dong.

Vice Chairman of Ba Ria – Vung Tau People’s Committee Tran Van Tuan said the film festival is a chance to promote the tourism, culture and economy of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province.
“With a rich culture, history and revolutionary tradition, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province has an important position in the development process of the southern region,” he said.

“Thanks to its beautiful beaches and landscape, the province has long been known as an attractive tourist destination, and become a popular location for domestic and foreign filmmakers of movies, music and advertisement videos.”

“This is the first time we have hosted the national film event. It makes us really proud. We hope to bring to audiences wonderful experiences with films.”

The opening ceremony features various songs which are official soundtracks of the films presented at the festival.

 
Many actors and actresses at different generations also participated in the ceremony. The red carpet honoured People’s Artist Tra Giang, People’s Artist Lan Huong and director Dang Nhat Minh as well as young actress Kaity Nguyen and actor Quy Binh who received the Best Actor and Actress awards at the previous film festival.

Director Bui Bai Binh said he’s always eager to attend the event as it’s a chance for artists to meet and exchange ideas.

“The film festival is a big event that we have been waiting for, it’s a playground for filmmakers, and artworks receive worthy appreciation,” he said.

On the same day, an exhibition entitled Vietnam’s Sea and Islands through Cinematic Perspective opened in Vung Tau City centre promoting beautiful landscapes of the sea and islands of the country. The exhibition displayed more than 200 photos showing the landscape captured in films and documentaries.

The exhibition will run until the end of the film festival then it will be handed to the Provincial People’s Committee for further exhibitions.

The closing and award ceremony will be held on November 27.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau hosts 21st National Film Festival

The 21st National Film Festival opened in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on November 23, drawing the participation of actresses, directors and filmmakers from across the country, and foreign delegates.

VN film promotion and development scheme to launch

With support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a campaign board has been working for months to launch the Viet Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development by the end of July.

Association to boost film industry’s development

Filmmakers and others in the movie business gathered to establish the Viet Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development on Thursday in Hanoi.

By Minh Thu

VNS