Innovation in the mechanism of ordering and financing films with the state budget

Over the years, most of the films funded by the State have been of low quality and had dismal box office revenue. Therefore, innovation in the mechanism of ordering and financing films using the State budget is a necessary requirement to create a breakthrough for the Vietnamese film industry.

Scene from the movie “Maika - The girl from another planet”. (Photo: vnexpress.net)

In recent years, most of the film projects using the budget have been assigned to the state film studio (which has been equitized). However, among the films ordered and sponsored by the State, only "I see yellow flowers on the green grass" directed by Victor Vu has won over the audience and created a "fever" at the box office. The film has the main funding source from the State, the Cinema Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is the investor, has cooperated with Galaxy Media & Entertainment, Saigon Concert, and Phuong Nam Film Studio to make the film. This film is adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh about children, so it is suitable for the criteria of being invested and supported by the State. The film has set a record revenue of nearly 80 billion VND after only one month of showing.

In addition to the success of "I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass", there are many films produced by state-owned film studios with large budgets but with modest revenues. These films are produced quietly, shown for a few times, then stored in storage without any effect from public opinion.

Despite being promoted and creating public opinion through the Kite Award, the film "The Legend of Quan Tien" about the revolutionary war by director Dinh Tuan Vu; or the film "Thach Thao" about the school theme, with the State investing 70% of the production cost, the revenue was not as expected. The two films released in theaters only earned nearly 1 billion VND in revenue, while the production cost was 15-18 billion VND. In 2022, the film about children "Maika - The Little Girl from Another Planet" was released and also received disappointing results when it only earned a total revenue of over 6 billion VND while the investment cost was up to 30 billion VND.

Previously, other films made with State investment capital such as “Where We Don’t Belong” (People’s Army Cinema), “Red Dawn” (Vietnam Cinema Association Film Studio) were only selected for screening at film festivals and anniversaries, and were not shown in competitive theaters. Along with that, many films ordered by the State such as “Living with History” (Vietnam Feature Film Studio), “Selling Contract” (Liberation Film Studio), “Wind Grave” (Nha Phuong Film Studio)… were released in theaters rather quietly, with low quality and not convincing to viewers.

From the consecutive failures of the above series of films, it can be seen that the quality of films invested in and commissioned by the State is still low. It is not uncommon for films funded by the State to only revolve around old content, limited themes, lacking appeal and innovation, defaulting to state-owned film studios. Along with that, directors believe that the difficulty in making films on order is how to meet the prescribed criteria and standards of education , entertainment, and national character. Therefore, it is time to innovate the mechanism of ordering and funding films with the State budget to have breakthroughs, contributing to the task of developing the country's film industry.

With many years of experience in filmmaking, director and People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh believes that the State's annual ordering and funding of film production creates many good films for Vietnamese cinema. However, if only ordering a few units that used to belong to the State to make films, it will be very limited and localized. Management agencies should organize a wide competition, select good scripts and filmmakers to order. In addition, along with investing in filmmaking, the State must also pay attention to the distribution stage. "A film can be very good, but if it is not well distributed, not widely promoted, and does not bring artistic value to the general public, it cannot be called a success" - People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh commented.

Former Deputy Director of the Department of Cinema (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ) Do Duy Anh said that films using State resources need to be diversified and expanded in topics, not only on children's topics and historical traditions, but also need to invest in films about issues that are of social concern, both entertaining and ensuring national and humane values, meeting the enjoyment needs of today's audiences.

According to many experts, if we want films to be ordered and funded by the state budget to be effective, we need to cooperate with major distributors, because these distributors know the market well, know what the audience needs to have scripts that balance between the right subject matter, being ordered, funded and commercial factors.

Based on practical needs, the Department of Cinema has notified film establishments nationwide about groups of script topics to participate in the selection of feature film, documentary, scientific, and animated films using the state budget, period 2023-2025. According to Director of the Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh, the number of scripts sent for selection in the past time, although not many, is enough to select good scripts for investment.

Developing the film industry to gradually reach the regional level and reach out to the world is the desire of all sectors and levels. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism always desires and seeks every way to develop Vietnamese cinema. The 2022 Cinema Law replaces the 2006 Cinema Law and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2009 Cinema Law, which has officially come into effect since January 1, 2023. Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong said that this Law has shown progress, with many new points compared to the previous Cinema Law and the Cinema Laws of many countries in the region.

According to Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong, the development of policies to implement the Cinema Law recently passed by the National Assembly is very important, including the issue of public-private partnership, mobilizing social resources for production, dissemination, distribution, promotion, and training of cinema human resources. The authorities will continue to promote, build and perfect a suitable legal corridor, creating more directions to promote Vietnamese cinema to the world, contributing to the construction and development of the Vietnamese film industry.

( According to dangcongsan.vn )

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