Int’l film festival kicks off in Hanoi

The opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The fourth Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF), themed “Cinema-Integration and Sustainable Development”, began on November 1 in Hanoi. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Former Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem and representatives of departments and agencies as well as directors and artists attended the opening ceremony. 

The HANIFF 2016 aims to honour excellent cinema, talent and encourage a co-operative spirit between movie-makers for the development of cinema. 

The festival’s categories were expanded to include all countries and territories, helping Vietnamese cinema integrate into the international cinema market, said Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien, who beat a gong to open the event. 

It will also help promote Vietnam to international friends and foster development of other sectors, especially tourism and services, he added.

The organisers selected 146 films among 550 entries from 43 countries and territories to participate in the festival. 

Vietnamese cinema is represented in every category with 29 films, including two full-length films, 10 shorts and 17 which will be shown as part of programmes of Feature Films in World Panaroma, Vietnamese Contemporary Films and ASEAN Films. 

The organising board will grant awards for the Best Feature Films and Short Films, among others. 

The film “I, Daniel Blake”, which won the Palme d’Or prize and the special prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, was screened at the opening ceremony. 

All films will be screened free of charge at the National Cinema Centre, Kim Dong Cinema, August Cinema, Ngoc Khanh Cinema, CGV Vincom Nguyen Chi Thanh and CGV Mipec Tower. 

Other activities include an outdoor film screening in collaboration with a Vietnam - Italy fashion event, a photo exhibition entitled “Vietnamese settings in foreign films”, HANIFF Young Talent Campus, Project Market and workshops on film production cooperation in ASEAN and Indian cinema. 

The festival, which runs through November 5, is organised by the Cinema Department and Hanoi’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.-VNA