What to expect from the Vietnamese short film competition

In the previous competition season, with the participation of 3 judges: director Nguyen Quang Dung, director Ly Hai, actor - producer Dinh Ngoc Diep, talented young filmmakers were "chosen". With the "open playground" and unlimited topics (within the framework of Cinema Law and traditional customs), more than 100 submitted entries showed the rich perspectives of young creatives: from looking back to the past to looking towards the future, from personal stories to exposing many pressing social issues, from using folk materials to completely modern films, from animation to live-action versions...

Kỳ vọng gì từ cuộc thi phim ngắn Việt Nam - 'Vietnamese 2025'?- Ảnh 1. — Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan *(middle)* , President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Cinema Development, at a working session to exchange experiences in training in the field of cinema in a series of cinema promotion activities in the US on February 28.

The competition, accordingly, is also a launching pad for many contestants to later produce many good works that are highly appreciated. It is worth mentioning that young director Ninh Le - who won the Best Director and Best Short Film awards with Canh Dieu bay luong troi - released a new short film Phong chieu in mid-April. Director Ly Hai also said that in last year's season he was very surprised by the quality of the works, and emphasized that these short films are not only limited to a competition but also have the ability to pave the way for young people to come to investors in the future, thereby carrying out larger, newer and more impressive projects.

A season of many changes

With this meaningful mission, the Vietnamese Short Film Competition - Vietnamese 2025 is honored to receive the organization of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Cinema Development, chaired by Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, former Director of the Department of Cinema; in addition to the continued support of Sandisk Vietnam and Gigamall Vietnam, Beta Group.

Kỳ vọng gì từ cuộc thi phim ngắn Việt Nam - 'Vietnamese 2025'?- Ảnh 2. — Young director Ninh Le shares in Cinetour From script to frame with critic Le Hong Lam, director Trinh Dinh Le Minh and DOP K'Linh

This year, the contest has expanded the documentary category as well as the participants: for Vietnamese citizens and foreigners living and working legally in Vietnam (aged 15 and over). The organizers also created quite comfortable conditions by allowing contestants to be directors or screenwriters to use works that have been made within the last 3 years and have not won any awards in any competitions or film festivals.

This year's jury continues to welcome the return of two directors Nguyen Quang Dung and Ly Hai, alongside new names: producer Bui Quang Minh ("shark" Minh Beta), Chairman of Beta Group; actress - producer Thu Trang; and the role of Chairman of the jury is Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion and Development of Cinema. With diverse members in many stages, from experts, investors, producers to management agencies, Vietnamese 2025 promises to not only stop at a talent search contest but also support and pave the way for young filmmakers to enter the professional film industry, reaching out to the world .

This year, to help contestants - young filmmakers gain more experience, the organizing committee has produced 3 Cinetalk episodes with 3 topics: Do it, don't be afraid, Create a hit, From script to frame with the participation of judges and many names in the domestic film industry, such as director of photography (DOP) K'Linh of the film Tunnels - Sun in the dark , director Trinh Dinh Le Minh, K+ film production supervisor Hoang Thanh Huy - the author who won a high prize in the Vietnamese 2024 contest. The episodes have been broadcast on Thanh Nien Newspaper's platforms, thereby hoping that those who are nurturing works to participate in the contest will be empowered and learn more in the creative process.

Kỳ vọng gì từ cuộc thi phim ngắn Việt Nam - 'Vietnamese 2025'?- Ảnh 3. — Cinetalk: How to effectively market a film at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

In addition, realizing that most of the works of last year's season came from students and trainees at domestic universities and colleges as well as international students, the organizers also carried out a series of Cinetours through universities. The first event was held at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology on May 16 with the theme of How to effectively market films with speakers: director Tran Thanh Huy - the person behind the film Rom , which received many awards at international film festivals, producer Nguyen Huu Thi Tuong Vi - the person behind the two box office phenomena Mai, Nha Ba Nu and lecturers specializing in cinema... The next two stops are expected to take place at Nguyen Tat Thanh University and Van Lang University with the topics: Making super-economical films, Taking advantage of technology in film production .

Valuable experiences

Commenting on the role of short films, Ms. Nguyen Huu Thi Tuong Vi said that with this genre, young filmmakers have the advantage of not being under much pressure from revenue and investors, so they can freely choose the topic that they like best and most clearly, so do not look for successful filmmaking formulas, instead dig deep into yourself and the topic you want to make, avoid generalities and ambiguities, from there you can convince the audience. She added: "Keep rolling because experiences and soft skills when working in groups will also bring valuable experiences". "Shark" Minh Beta also shared that learning anytime, anywhere, observing, meeting people is very necessary, because later on, those dedicated efforts will give us valuable luggage, from which we can take advantage when opportunities come.

With the development of technology today, director of Ngay Xua Co Mot Truyen Tinh Trinh Dinh Le Minh advises young creators to work with images more and observe more to improve themselves. He said: "Nowadays, technology is so developed that everyone has a camera with just a phone. We can take advantage of that to observe how the light changes, how people move and move... With these experiments and accumulations, we will automatically form our thinking and attitude towards images". DOP K'Linh also shared: "Talent cannot be changed, but aesthetics can be practiced" by traveling a lot, learning a lot, observing fine arts and other art forms carefully.

Talking more about the "formula" for a successful film, K+ Original film producer and production supervisor Hoang Thanh Huyen suggested that a good film must have emotions and must be able to fully convey the message and content to the audience. A work is only successful when the audience can connect with the story that the filmmaker wants to convey, with the theme that we want to portray. Thu Trang, producer of the 100 billion VND film Nu hon bac bien (Silver Kiss) during the recent Tet holiday, also emphasized the script stage, because once there is a good script, the creator will easily invite talented actors, cameramen... to participate in their project. Then, by properly placing who plays which role, who does what task..., the production process will run smoothly.

Director Nguyen Quang Dung hopes that young filmmakers can express the breath of the times in their works. He added that school knowledge is the foundation, but when starting to create, consider it just a foundation for reference, because the most important thing is to find your own personality. DOP K'Linh said: "What is most unique and creative is the easiest to succeed. Our technique may not be good, but in the end, unique thinking is still the key."

The judges and filmmakers all agreed that if they love it and are passionate, young people should just follow their own perspective and not be afraid to challenge themselves, because the Vietnamese short film competition can be said to be an "open" playground, expected to be a foundation for the generation of young Vietnamese filmmakers to have the opportunity to assert themselves, express their personality and unique artistic language.

The announcement ceremony of the Vietnamese short film contest - Vietnamese 2025 and the talk show Short Film - Playground to film festival for young people will take place at 2:30 p.m. on May 23 at Saigon International University, Ho Chi Minh City and will be broadcast live on YouTube, thanhnien.vn , Thanh Nien Newspaper Fanpage, and Thanh Nien Newspaper TikTok.

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