The domestic cinema industry badly needs a stimulus package to pickitself up, both in terms of quality and quantity, delegates said at anonline conference held recently by the Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism.
The conference aimed to gather public feedback on a draft development plan for the cinema industry from now to 2020.
The plan revolves around some basic themes, including State managementof cinema; developing technical capabilities; training and developing aqualified human resource base for the industry; and internationalco-operation.
The draft plan also sets specifictargets that are aimed at ensuring that the domestic cinema industrywill really prosper, thus fully exploiting its potential and meetingpeople's demand. These include building three major film studios inHanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, a modern technology centre and twomodern cinema complexes.
In the northern region, 10new cinemas will be built and 24 others will be upgraded, while thecorresponding figures are 15 and 16 for provinces in the central region,and 24 and 8 for the southern provinces.
Most of the new cinemas will be built in localities that have had no such facility to date.
Herculean task
Conference participants cautioned that realising these targets inseven years will be a Herculean task for industry and its governingbody, the culture ministry, especially given the tough economicconditions in the country at present.
Nguyen DanhDuong, director of the National Film Screening Centre, said thatbuilding 49 new cinemas and modern film studios, and restoring 48 wouldrequire a huge sum of money, but the State budget was already heavilyconstrained.
To make the development plan cometrue, the industry needs a stimulus package that gathers resources fromthe Government and various economic sectors, with top priority given tokey facilities, Duong said.
He suggested thatinvestment priority be given to installing modern equipment for theexisting Co Loa Film Studio and building a new one in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the interim, the industry should focusinvestments into building a modern cinema centre in the central regionto meet the demand of local people there instead of building a new filmstudio as mentioned in the draft development plan, he said.
Stage director Dang Nhat Minh agreed with Duong, saying all cinemainvestments should be made in ways that suited the country's economicconditions.
Minh said Vietnam should come up withgrowth models for the cinema industry that match different developmentperiods that the country goes through.
Inparticular, the Government should invest in facilities that can be usedfor both TV films and cinemas to reduce costs, he said.
Several bottlenecks
According to independent market watchdogs, the domestic cinema markethas been rather gloomy in most localities nation-wide, with veryexceptions like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Cinema entertainment is almost absent in rural and remote areas.
Meanwhile, the market, with its population of 90 million, is dominatedby foreign films since a majority of homemade productions are ofmoderate quality.
Limited capital and the lack of close co-operation between film producers further hamper the industry.
While many private film companies have been established recently, theyface unhealthy competition, making it difficult for them to competewith foreign counterparts.
Experts and indutryinsiders agreed that stimulus package is very important for thedevelopment of cinema industry in the time to come.-VNA
The conference aimed to gather public feedback on a draft development plan for the cinema industry from now to 2020.
The plan revolves around some basic themes, including State managementof cinema; developing technical capabilities; training and developing aqualified human resource base for the industry; and internationalco-operation.
The draft plan also sets specifictargets that are aimed at ensuring that the domestic cinema industrywill really prosper, thus fully exploiting its potential and meetingpeople's demand. These include building three major film studios inHanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, a modern technology centre and twomodern cinema complexes.
In the northern region, 10new cinemas will be built and 24 others will be upgraded, while thecorresponding figures are 15 and 16 for provinces in the central region,and 24 and 8 for the southern provinces.
Most of the new cinemas will be built in localities that have had no such facility to date.
Herculean task
Conference participants cautioned that realising these targets inseven years will be a Herculean task for industry and its governingbody, the culture ministry, especially given the tough economicconditions in the country at present.
Nguyen DanhDuong, director of the National Film Screening Centre, said thatbuilding 49 new cinemas and modern film studios, and restoring 48 wouldrequire a huge sum of money, but the State budget was already heavilyconstrained.
To make the development plan cometrue, the industry needs a stimulus package that gathers resources fromthe Government and various economic sectors, with top priority given tokey facilities, Duong said.
He suggested thatinvestment priority be given to installing modern equipment for theexisting Co Loa Film Studio and building a new one in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the interim, the industry should focusinvestments into building a modern cinema centre in the central regionto meet the demand of local people there instead of building a new filmstudio as mentioned in the draft development plan, he said.
Stage director Dang Nhat Minh agreed with Duong, saying all cinemainvestments should be made in ways that suited the country's economicconditions.
Minh said Vietnam should come up withgrowth models for the cinema industry that match different developmentperiods that the country goes through.
Inparticular, the Government should invest in facilities that can be usedfor both TV films and cinemas to reduce costs, he said.
Several bottlenecks
According to independent market watchdogs, the domestic cinema markethas been rather gloomy in most localities nation-wide, with veryexceptions like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Cinema entertainment is almost absent in rural and remote areas.
Meanwhile, the market, with its population of 90 million, is dominatedby foreign films since a majority of homemade productions are ofmoderate quality.
Limited capital and the lack of close co-operation between film producers further hamper the industry.
While many private film companies have been established recently, theyface unhealthy competition, making it difficult for them to competewith foreign counterparts.
Experts and indutryinsiders agreed that stimulus package is very important for thedevelopment of cinema industry in the time to come.-VNA
