Feature films and documentaries from 31 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific are to be shown at the Hanoi International Film Festival which opened on November 25.

More than 100 feature films, documentaries and short films will be screened at nine cinema complexes until Thursday, including 37 competing in the categories of Best Feature Movie, Best Short Film and the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema Award.

Two Vietnamese films to compete with 12 others for Best Feature Movie are Thien Menh Anh Hung (Blood Letter) and Dam Me (Passion).

Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said this film festival provides an opportunity for Vietnamese artists and actors to exchange cultural values and professional experiences and helps spread the image of Vietnam to the world.

The festival opened with a feature movie on Vietnam , Cat Nong (Hot Sand), directed by Le Hoang and produced by the Liberation Film Studio.

It will be screened nationwide during the Lunar New Year festival next February.

Jury president for feature films, German director Jan Schuette, said the festival screened films rarely shown in Viet Nam , including Orphan ( Russia ), Footnote ( Israel ), Iron Lady ( Britain ) and Amour ( France ). The latter won the Golden Palm at the 2012 Cannes Festival, the highest prize awarded and presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition.

Vietnam will present 42 films in different categories with three themes: Hanoi , Vietnam 's renewal period, and those produced from 2010 until now.

Audiences will also have the chance to meet documentary makers, animators and film crews. Hollywood actor Clifford Vivian Devon (Cliff Curtis) and Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, voted as the best Iranian actress of the decade by 130 Iranian film critics, will be at the festival.

The festival will feature a three-day workshop where experts, including Sonja Heinen from the World Cinema Foundation, Tessa Inkelaar from Film London and Michael J Werner from Fortissimo Films, are to share their experiences with emerging Asian directors.

In the meantime, an international conference, entitled "Vietnam Cinema in the Renewal Period", is underway at the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel. 200 Vietnamese and foreign artists, filmmakers and film producers are to assess the development of Vietnam cinematography since the renewal period that began in the late of 1980s, and international integration.

The second conference, "Digital Technology and Development Trends in Film Production and Cinema", will be held on November 28.

An exhibition entitled "Vietnam Cinema in the Renewal Period", provides attendants with a general view of developments in Vietnam cinematography during 20 years of renewing and integrating.

The closing ceremony of the festival and awards presentations will be held at the Friendship Cultural Palace on November 29.-VNA