As long as there is a story to tell, 100% can make a film in many ways.

On the afternoon of June 14, at Nguyen Tat Thanh University, the final stop of the cinetour accompanying the Vietnam Short Film Competition - Vietnamese 2025 took place. Here, the three directors Nguyen Thi Tham, Huynh Lap, and Hung Tran discussed the topic 'Super economical filmmaking'.

Impressing with simple, honest and humane works, independent films with limited budgets have "accompanied" director Nguyen Thi Tham from the early days of her journey to cinema.

Director Nguyen Thi Tham emphasized: "As long as there is a story to tell, it will be 100% possible to do it in many ways."

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

She shared that from the film she made to graduate from the University of Theatre and Cinema in Ho Chi Minh City as well as the famous The Last Journey of Ms. Phung , all were made with an extremely limited budget. It was also for this reason that the second film took 5 years to complete, because the production budget had to be raised before the work could begin again.

From here, the filmmaker of Vietnam Women's Football, the first story told , commented: "Cinema in particular, and movies in general, for a long time were only for the rich. But when technology became convenient, it increasingly expanded its scope and everyone could access it. Therefore, making super-economical movies is not impossible."

From her past experiences, she advises that if filmmakers only have limited "capital", they should equip themselves with as many skills as possible, from script writing to film editing. She also reveals that on set, the person behind the lens should also be flexible in taking advantage of what they have.

For example, when making Ms. Phung's Last Journey, her crew consisted of only 2 people, including herself and one person in charge of lighting, and she didn't even have the funds to pay the remaining person.

Therefore, if in a similar situation, the female director encourages young people to directly instruct their characters to help (if it's a documentary genre), or to take care of things as they go (in movies in general).

3 directors Nguyen Thi Tham, Huynh Lap, Hung Tran shared interesting things about making super economical films.

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

In addition, director Nguyen Thi Tham also revealed that young filmmakers should participate in many domestic film festivals as well as events to meet and exchange with the film industry, because from here they can approach their seniors, and they will be very willing to participate if it is an impressive work despite limited or no budget.

Finally, she emphasized: "As long as there is a story to tell, it will be 100% possible in many ways." She said that if the limited budget leads to the story having to be simple, the setting having to be minimalist, then in return, the dialogue has to be impressive and good actors have to be cast to make up for those limitations.

Director Hung Tran shared that when making a film, "the reason is more important than the method, the standards are more important than the budget."

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

Agreeing with this opinion, director Hung Tran - "owner" of the work Mong Chien, which won the Best Actor category of the Vietnamese 2024 competition, said that for himself, when making a film, "the reason is more important than the method, the standards are more important than the budget".

He revealed that when he made Mong , he started from zero, not knowing what he had to do. From there, he gave advice that for a work to make an impression, the script is very important. For example, with the above film, he thought for a long time and spent 2 years pursuing this topic.

Many young people are more confident from these shares.

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

From his experience, Hung Tran shared that young filmmakers should make works that are closest to themselves, that they understand best and have a desire to tell, then passion and inner urge will turn the impossible into possible.

Answering a young person's question about whether it would be well received if the work was made with simple, readily available equipment, resulting in image quality that could not be compared to professional equipment, Hung Tran said that the story that the work wants to convey is still the most important, otherwise, no matter how beautiful it is, the audience will be indifferent and will not be impressed.

With the theme Vietnamese, contestants who are Vietnamese citizens and foreigners living and working legally in Vietnam from 15 years old and above can exploit all topics permitted by the Cinema Law, related to the country and people of Vietnam. Contestants can use works they have created (as a director or screenwriter) within the past 3 years, and have never participated in other competitions or film festivals. In particular, contestants can take advantage of AI software in the process of creating works.

Right from the preliminary round, short films that meet quality standards will be selected to be published on Thanh Nien Online Newspaper; then, 20 short films that make it to the final round will be published on Thanh Nien Newspaper's digital platforms , including its YouTube channel with more than 6 million subscribers.

The contest officially accepts entries from May 23 to July 7. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in August at Beta Cinemas, Ung Van Khiem, Ho Chi Minh City.

See more detailed rules here.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chi-can-co-cau-chuyen-muon-ke-100-se-lam-duoc-phim-bang-nhieu-cach-185250614201816023.htm