Over 350 applications were submitted to the DANAFF 2026 Project Incubator.

With over 350 applications, the DANAFF Talents Project Incubator – a program for discovering, training, and developing cinematic talent within the framework of the Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF) – continues to demonstrate the appeal of this platform connecting filmmakers in the region.

Poster for the Golden Swan project from Bangladesh participating in the Project Incubator. Photo: DANAFF

At DANAFF 2026, the program was expanded in scale and professional activities, focusing on two main categories: Asian Art-house Projects and Vietnamese Commercial/Multigenre Film Projects, organized in the form of an intensive script development workshop (Script Lab).

In the art film category, the program continues to promote international cooperation through exchanges, networking, and connections with international film producers and distributors. Projects from the ASEAN region, following the course in Da Nang, will continue to participate in a series of practical exchanges in Thailand and France within the framework of the Asia-Europe cooperation program. Through this, filmmakers will have more opportunities to access international co-production networks as well as major film funds such as Cinema du Monde of CNC France.

This year's list of projects features many notable figures in Asian cinema. Director Dastan Zhapar Ryskeldi, winner of the Best Asian Film award at DANAFF 2025, returns with his project Zholdogu Bala ( Stuck like Babies ). Representing Vietnam is director Nguyen Trung Nghia with his project The Rats' Wedding . The list also includes international projects such as Golden Swan from Bangladesh and Before the Earth Collapses , a collaboration between Japan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

The project participated in the Project Incubator program of director Dastan Zhapar Ryskeldi. Photo: DANAFF

In the Vietnamese commercial film category, this year's program is revamped with a Script Lab model. The eight best projects will participate in a 10-day intensive scriptwriting training course, guided by professors and experts from Columbia University, USA. After the course, the film crews will pitch to an international panel and meet directly with investors, producers, and distributors at the Project Market.

This year's list of Vietnamese commercial film projects includes many familiar names in Vietnamese cinema such as director Nguyen Quang Dung with the project "The Ivory Comb" , director Phan Gia Nhat Linh with "Phan Xich Long and the Uprising in the Southern Provinces" , director Dinh Tuan Vu with "Female Soldier" , along with young filmmakers such as Tran Quang Thien, Vu Nguyen Nam Khue, Oscar Duong...

VINH XUAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/hon-350-ho-so-tham-gia-vuon-uom-du-an-danaff-2026-post854770.html