"Southern Forest Land" competes for Golden Lotus award amid controversy

On October 30, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), a press conference was held to announce the 23rd Vietnam Film Festival.

This year's film festival, with the slogan: "Building a Vietnamese film industry rich in national identity, modern and humane", will be held from November 21 to November 25 in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province.

Here, the list of feature films competing at the 23rd Vietnam Film Festival was announced, including: Mrs. Nu's House (screened on Tet 2023), 578 (2023), Southern Forest Land (2023), The Last Wife (2023), Peach, Pho and Piano (2023), Hong Ha Lady (2023), Con Nhót Mot Chong (2023), Mom, Buom Day (2023), Em and Trinh (2022), Muoi: The Curse Returns (2022), The Girl from the Past (2022), FANTI; Jasmine (2022), Anonymous (2022).

Notably, Southern Forest Land - a film that has caused much controversy in public opinion about historical factors in recent times.

At the press conference, in response to the press's question: "The participating feature films, including the film Southern Forest Land , are receiving many conflicting opinions. How does this affect the judging results and the film's competition for awards?"

Mr. Vi Kien Thanh, Director of the Department of Cinema Information at the press conference of the 23rd Film Festival (Photo: VT).

Mr. Vi Kien Thanh, Director of the Department of Cinema, Head of the Film Festival Organizing Committee, replied: "The awards of the Film Festival will be based on the results and evaluations of the Council and the Jury. Public opinion and audience opinions will be reflected in the awards voted by the audience for their favorite film."

The list of artists attending the red carpet event of the Film Festival was also of interest to the press and raised questions at the press conference. Responding to this issue, Mr. Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that he was still waiting for the film crews to confirm the artists attending and would announce it at the second press conference on November 10 in Da Lat.

Panorama of the 23rd Film Festival press conference (Photo: AV).

This is the first time Da Lat city, Lam Dong province has hosted a film festival coinciding with the occasion of the "city of thousands of flowers" celebrating its 130th anniversary.

Speaking at the press conference, Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong also said that the event brought a favorable opportunity for Lam Dong province to introduce to domestic and international tourists and friends about the beautiful, dreamy city of Da Lat with many fascinating natural landscapes.

"The festival continues to affirm the position and role of cinema in the country's cultural and artistic life, and is an opportunity for Vietnamese cinema to introduce to the audience cinematic works rich in genre, theme, and form of expression.

The festival reflects a multi-dimensional perspective on the lives of filmmakers, aiming to build a Vietnamese film industry rich in national identity, modern and humane as the festival's slogan suggests," the Deputy Minister affirmed.

From 31 feature films, 82 documentaries, 23 scientific films, and 43 animated films registered to participate in the Festival, the Organizing Committee established a Council to select films into 2 programs: Competition Film Program and Panorama Film Program.

In which, the Competition Film Program has 91 selected films including: 16 feature films, 31 documentaries, 19 scientific films, 25 animated films.

56 films were selected for the Panorama Film Program, including: 14 feature films, 20 documentaries, 4 scientific films, and 18 animated films.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/van-hoa/dat-rung-phuong-nam-tranh-giai-bong-sen-vang-giua-on-ao-tranh-cai-20231030132753320.htm