The logo of the Hanoi International Film Festival. Nearly 200 films from 68 countries and territories will feature at the event next month. With the theme "Cinema - Humanity, Adaptation and Development", thefestival will be held by the culture ministry's Cinema Department, to honourexcellent international and Vietnamese cinematographic works with high artisticvalue, rich in humanity and creativity in cinematic language.
It also encourages new Vietnamese and world talent in film acting andproducing.
This is an opportunity to boost the domestic film industry and its integrationinto the world market while simultaneously promoting the image of Vietnam as asafe, friendly, peaceful, hospitable, integrated and developing country, theculture ministry said in a statement.
It added that UNESCO had recognised Hanoi as a city for peace and creativity,and the event helps enhance the country's position and brand in artisticcreation with a vision of sustainable socio-cultural development.
Two ceremonies will be held on November 8 and 12 to mark the opening andclosing of the event. Awards will also be presented on the closing nightceremony at the Friendship Palace at 91 Tran Hung Dao street.
The two ceremonies will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television (VTV).
The festival organising committee has set up a council to select qualifiedfilms to be shown at the five-day festival, which starts on November 8.
More than 190 long and short films have been chosen from over 400 filmssubmitted to participation from 68 countries and territories.
The council conducted final evaluation activities on the candidates inmid-September and is expected to select works from different categories for thecontest, including 10-12 foreign films for the long film category and about 40others for the short film category.
In the short film category, the council is expected to select 30 features,documentaries and animations from around the world and ten from Vietnam.
The category of world panorama will feature 70-80 films, including 56 long and21 short productions, which will be shown during the festival. The contemporaryfeature category will have 43 films, 22 short and 21 feature films.
For the national cinematic category, nine films from the Republic of Korea willbe presented.
Activities such as film screening and the film project market will be held atDaewoo Hotel, as well as two seminars with themes about RoK cinema spotlightand film production, distribution and dissemination to overcome the COVID-19pandemic.
An exhibition highlighting Hanoi historical monuments and cultural heritageswill be held during the festival.
There will also be an outdoor movie screening area and a movie star exchangeprogramme on November 9, 10 and 11 in the centre of Hanoi.
Sightseeing tours through some attractive destinations around Hanoi and BacNinh city will be offered to guests and participants on November 11.
It is reported that the organising board has worked with cinema chains such asthe National Cinema Centre, BHD Cineplex, CJ CGV and Galaxy to coordinatepreparing and promoting the filming programmes two weeks before the openingceremony.
Speaking at a meeting of the organising board held recently, Ly Phuong Dung,deputy director of the Cinema Department, said that along with difficultiesrelated to copyright issues, it was really hard to invite foreign films to thefestival due to impacts after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organising board is looking forward to receiving support from mass mediabefore, during and after the event to spread its reputation "wider anddeeper", she said./.
VNA
