The 20^th Viet Nam Film Festival will take place in Da Nang in 2017.  This is the 2^nd time the city will have hosted this national-level event since 1988. 

Meritorious artist Trung (left) presenting a copy of his documentary film ‘Nho Dao’ to a representative from the Hoang Sa Islands People’s Committee

Meritorious artist Tri Trung from the city-based VTV8 remarked, “Da Nang, and the central region and highlands as a whole, boasts time-honoured cultural and historical values, with numerous historical figures and social changes.  All are an endless source of inspiration for local documentary filmmakers”.  He noted that the production of documentaries thrived in the 1990s, and the majority of local filmmakers were from VTV8.  The city’s well-known documentaries included ‘Tay Nguyen-Mien Mo Tuong’ (Central Highlands-Dreamy Land), ‘Nho Dao’ (Miss the Islands), ‘La Hat’ (Singing Leaves), and ‘Trang Doi Huynh Thoai’ (Legendary Life).

Meritorious artist Huynh Van Hung, the Director of the city’s Department of Culture and Sports cum Chairman of the municipal Cinema Association, affirmed that the special love for the land of Da Nang, where there are so many historical heroes, has inspired him and his colleagues to make fascinating documentaries.

Over the past 2 decades, local documentary filmmakers, especially those from VTV8 and the Da Nang Radio Station (DRT), have won numerous prizes at the National Television Festival, the National Press Awards, and the Golden Kite Awards of the Viet Nam Cinema Association.  However, they have never brought home any Golden Lotus prizes from the Viet Nam Film Festival.

In preparation for the 20^th Viet Nam Film Festival, Hung affirmed that he is appealing for all the members of the municipal Cinema Association to become more actively involved in making more attractive documentaries.  He intends to make a documentary entitled ‘Duoi Chan Thanh Dien Hai’ (Beneath the Dien Hai Citadel).

As for TV serials and feature films, the city is now facing a shortage of human resources, including screenplay writers, directors and actors, to make these kinds of films. 

Some parts of a Vietnamese TV serial entitled ‘Zippo, Mustard and You’, which is aired at 9.10pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays on the VTV3 channel, feature fascinating images of the Ba Na Hills Resort, the Hai Van Pass, the Son Tra Mountains and the bridges across the Han River.  Also, many international and domestic film crews have chosen Da Nang as an ideal location to shoot their movies.

Local filmmakers are now making every effort to fully tap their documentary production strengths in a bid to win the highest possible awards at the upcoming film festival.