International newspapers say Vietnamese cinema is one of the fastest growing markets in Asia.

Lunar New Year is the time when most box offices in Asia are always crowded with people going to the cinema. In Vietnam, according to the author of the article Liz Shackleton, the explosion from the movie "Mai" by Tran Thanh has brought in a revenue of 400 billion VND (16.4 million USD), ranking it as the film that is currently at the top of the box office.

Photo: Tran Thanh Town, CJ HK Entertainment

Also released during the Tet holiday, the comedy "Gap lai chi bau" directed by Nhat Trung ranked second with a revenue of 3 million USD. Two other domestic films that premiered on February 10 were "Sang Den" with a music theme by Hoang Tuan Cuong and "Tra" by Director Le Hoang - which withdrew from theaters after a few days due to poor box office results.

The tight release schedule reflects a vibrant market in Vietnam that has seen an excellent recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. According to some, the Vietnamese market is likely to be the second fastest to recover in Asia after India, with a young and dynamic domestic film industry.

Before Tet, the horror film Quy Cau - director Luu Thanh Luan's debut film - topped the box office for six consecutive weeks, earning more than 108 billion VND (4.5 million USD). The film set a record for domestic horror films in Vietnam, although January is usually a quiet month before Tet.

Horror film Ghost Dog - director Luu Thanh Luan's debut film. Photo: 89s Group

Although Vietnam's film industry only opened up 10-15 years ago, box office revenue had been growing steadily at 10% annually before the pandemic, surpassing Thailand - a country known for having a much more developed and established film industry.

Last year, Vietnam’s box office revenue reached $150 million, equivalent to about 90% of pre-pandemic levels, from a total of 1,100 theaters. This is considered a big step forward for the Vietnamese film market when in 2010 there were only 90 theaters and annual revenue of less than $15 million.

Growth factor

According to the author of the article, Liz Shackleton, the development of Vietnamese cinema is partly due to the cinema system, operated by Korean enterprises CJ CGV and Lotte Cinema, and local film studios Galaxy Cinema and BHD Star Cineplex. Recently, Vietnam has also witnessed the emergence of new cinema chains, such as Beta Cinema and Cinestar - units that provide affordable ticket prices for students and low-income audiences.

As the film market is experimenting with new genres and producing more types of films, the achievements also come from the efforts of private companies entering the film market in the mid-2000s. Among them, CJ ENM and Lotte actively sponsored and produced Vietnamese-language films such as Mai, Nha Ba Nu (CJ ENM), Hai Phuong, Nguoi Vo Cuoi Cuoi (Lotte).

The Last Wife by Director Victor Vu. Photo: Lotte Entertainment

In addition, according to CJ HK's film distribution director Nguyen Tuan Linh, 80% of cinemagoers are under 29 years old. Basically, the young audience group is determining the market's taste. They like romance, comedy, horror with local elements as well as Korean, Thai and Indonesian films.

"This is also an age group that is very active in sharing on social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, and will quickly bring a strong effect," said Justin Kim, director of international film production at CJ ENM.

Currently, audiences also seem to prefer domestic films over Hollywood films. In 2023, only two American films, Fast X and Elemental, were in the top 10 highest-grossing projects of the year, while there were 6 domestic films on the chart, led by Mrs. Nu's House (directed by Tran Thanh), Lat Mat 6: The Fateful Ticket (Ly Hai) and Dat Rung Phuong Nam (Nguyen Quang Dung).

These results reflect a new trend among Asian audiences post-Covid-19, with the supply of new films from US studios slowing due to the double impact of Covid and the Hollywood strike. Gen Z (young people born between 1997 and 2012) often prefer to watch films that are more culturally relevant and feature Asian pop culture trends and stars.

When it comes to imported films from abroad, Korean, Thai and Indonesian films are currently among the most popular. Therefore, to promote the development of the film industry, production value, marketing strategy and story content will be the factors that help a film in Vietnam.

Vietnam's film industry is in its infancy.

While there is clearly no shortage of ambition in the Vietnamese film industry, producers and filmmakers note the same issues – the industry is still in its early stages, investors remain cautious post-pandemic, and the talent pool is not large enough to satisfy audience demand.

“When we start a new project, we don’t have many options when it comes to casting and crew to make the film feel fresh and different,” said Hang Trinh, founder of Silver Moonlight and Skyline Media, a film production and distribution company. “Right now, training is key so we can have more talent to really push the market forward.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Content Director of CJ CGV Vietnam, said that before the pandemic, Vietnam produced about 40-45 films per year, but now there are only less than 30 projects because many investors are facing financial difficulties.

Mr. Hai also expressed optimism in the coming time, V Pictures - a company that invests in, produces Vietnamese films and distributes foreign films, with Nguyen Hoang Hai as CEO - plans to raise finance for a series of domestic projects, while CGV is supporting young filmmaking talent by sponsoring short films.

Pham Thien An - Director who won the Camera d'Or award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, is one of the filmmakers who started his career by making the short film "Be Awake and Be Ready (2019)" under the support of CGV.

Unlike other Southeast Asian markets, Vietnam was not a major focus for global streamers even before the current decline in local-language production.

According to Deadline, there are a number of issues that hinder foreign investment in Vietnam, such as censorship, few tax incentives, and measures to support film production.

However, the government has recently taken a more active interest in the film industry, seemingly more willing to listen to what the industry needs to develop the market. Under the new Cinema Law, which comes into effect in January 2023, the country’s film rating system has been updated, making classification more transparent and easier to work with, and private companies will be allowed to organize film festivals for the first time.

The Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF) is also scheduled to take place from April 6-13, alongside existing film festivals in Hanoi and Da Nang.

“The film industry has been through challenging times during the pandemic but we have good stories to tell and there is definitely opportunity,” said BHD founder and Senior Vice President Ngo Bich Hanh.

Access to North American markets and beyond

Last year was a proud moment for Vietnamese filmmakers on the festival circuit, with Pham Thien An's "Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell" premiering in North America and Tran Anh Hung's French film "The Taste of Things" making the top 15 for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. Vietnamese films are also starting to expand into mainstream distribution channels, especially in the US.

The movie "Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell". Photo: Cercamon

Currently, producers in Vietnam are starting to experiment with remakes and co-productions as a means of reaching the international market. Mr. Justin Kim - General Director of CJ HK Entertainment and also Head of International Film Production at CJ ENM is looking for opportunities to remake Vietnamese film content and aim to translate it into English.

"Vietnamese films can also follow this path in the future and CJ, with its international network, can help with that," said Mr. Justin Kim.

In addition, Hang Trinh - Founder of the film production and distribution company Silver Moonlight and Skyline Media is also making a series of co-production films with countries including the US, South Korea and Mongolia.

"Our main concern is that other countries have not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, but we believe that if we control costs and have the right commercial and international factors, we can access more international markets," Ms. Hang emphasized./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/bao-quoc-te-dien-anh-viet-nam-la-mot-trong-nhung-thi-truong-phat-trien-nhanh-nhat-chau-a-20240227100507579.htm