Art house films, also known as auteur films, are the lifeblood of cinema. However, Vietnamese filmmakers often face a major difficulty: The films they make, which win awards at international film festivals, are often received indifferently by domestic audiences.
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| Opening ceremony of the first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival, evening of April 6, at Ho Chi Minh City Theater. |
The film Inside the Golden Cocoon by director Pham Thien An won the Camera D'or award (Golden Camera for best debut film) at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, but when shown in Vietnam... not many people watched it, only staying in theaters for a few days. The film Glorious Ashes by director Bui Thac Chuyen won the Golden Balloon award at the 3 Continents Film Festival, but domestic sales were not very promising. The newly released film Muon Vi Nhan Gian by director Tran Anh Hung is currently lacking audiences in theaters...
It is obvious that the number of people watching art films is less than commercial entertainment films in the world . But in our country, the difference in revenue is so large that the makers of art films hesitate, lose capital, and do not dare to pursue. Most audiences are not used to enjoying films that require subtle, profound emotions; they are not attracted to everyday stories filled with thoughts about human life; they are not moved by innocent, unadorned beauty. They find "dishes" with unusual flavors strange.
In an effort to gradually attract viewers to enjoy art films from around the world, international film festivals have been opened in the country, such as the Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF), the Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF) and this year the first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF).
The highlight of HIFF compared to other film festivals in Vietnam is that viewers will have access to the cinema of Southeast Asian countries. This is a strong, diverse, culturally rich film industry but little known. Domestic filmmakers and viewers have the opportunity to learn, with geographical, social, economic and technical backgrounds close to ours, what stories they will exploit about the country and its people; how to build and resolve social conflicts and how to tell stories through the language of cinema? With the Golden Star Award for the best Southeast Asian film - the grand prize of the film festival, HIFF hopes to become a window to introduce domestic and international viewers to the annual quintessence of this seemingly closed regional film industry, including our country's cinema.
And like other film festivals, the Golden Star award for first and second films, the Golden Star award for short films and outstanding individual awards will contribute to discovering talents, while creating an exciting playground for young filmmakers at home and abroad.
A rather sad thing is that we have not prepared for this festival a film strong enough, worthy of the host position to compete with films from other countries in the three official competition categories mentioned above. This could be a positive challenge for domestic filmmakers, and not at all inferior or inferior because we have had young filmmakers win the award for best debut film at major film festivals around the world such as Pham Thien An with Inside the Golden Cocoon, Pham Ngoc Lan with Cu li khong bao gioi (Best debut feature film at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival). And with HIFF being held annually, filmmakers will proactively plan their productions to be able to present their hot works at home.
Whether HIFF is effective or not depends largely on the positive reception of the city's residents as filmmakers and moviegoers. Filmmakers proactively learn professional knowledge from teachers and colleagues as if they were stepping out of the screen before their eyes. Moviegoers also need to discover new cinematic aesthetics that they have never encountered before, in order to be moved by unexpected beauty. Of course, it is impossible to grasp the vast source of cinematic art in a day or two, but it can help us to some extent with keywords and codes to help viewers enjoy cinematic works that may have previously been prejudiced as dry and bland.
( According to www.sggp.org.vn )
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