The closing and awards ceremony of the first Da Nang Asian Film Festival 2023 (DANAFF) themed ‘Viet Nam integration’ took place on Saturday evening.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman Ngo Thi Kim Yen delivering her remarks at the event

In her remarks at the ceremony, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman Ngo Thi Kim Yen thanked leaders of the central and municipal government, and central ministries and branches, for their direction; movie artistes, experts and researchers for the enthusiastic participation; and sponsors, media agencies, volunteers and audience for their active support for DANAFF.

She emphasised that DANAFF became a cinema bridge between Viet Nam and other countries in the region, between local audience and the countries whose films competed in the festival.

According to Vice Chairwoman Yen, this was the first time that Da Nang had organised such international event in the field of cinema. Hopefully, the city will continue to receive practical constructive suggestions, and enthusiastic support, from experts and artistes, especially from the Viet Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development, in order to organise the next festival in a more perfect and professional manner.

She believed that the city’s images will be widely introduced to international friends through film industry.

Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development Ngo Phuong Lan delivering her speech at the event

Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Association of Film Promotion and Development Ngo Phuong Lan highlighted the professionalism of the organisers in ensuring the success of DANAFF and selecting high quality films for competition.

“DANAFF really has created its own mark of a young, fresh and vibrant film festival, promising a festival brand that has a strong foothold in the region” she affirmed.

DANAFF has a total of 12 awards in 2 categories. In particular, the category ‘Asian Film Awards’ is decided by the Asian Film Jury, whilst the ‘Viet Nam Film Awards’ category is decided by the Viet Nam Film Jury.

Along with that, the NETPAC Award for the best Vietnamese film is decided by the NETPAC Jury and selected in the contested Vietnamese films. Meanwhile, the ‘Audience Award’ for the most favourite Vietnamese film is voted by the audience among the films participating in the ‘Today’s Vietnamese Cinema’ programme.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha presenting the best Asian film award for the 'Children in the Mist' movie

In the end, the best Asian film award went to the ‘Children in the Mist’ film, and the ‘World War III’ film won the special prize of the Asian Film Jury.

The best Vietnamese film award was given out to the ‘Nha Ba Nu’ film, and the ‘Dem Toi Ruc Ro’ film took the special prize of the Vietnam Film Jury.

In the ‘Viet Nam Film Award’ category, the most favourite Vietnamese film went to the ‘Sieu Lua Gap Sieu Lay’ film directed by Vo Thanh Hoa. The ‘Best Director’ Award belonged to director and actor Tran Thanh for the movie ‘Nha Ba Nu’.

Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Le Trung Chinh (first right) giving the best Vietnamese film award for the 'Nha Ba Nu' movie

Notably, the film ‘Dem Toi Ruc Ro’ directed by Aaron Toronto won 3 awards: Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

In the ‘Asian Film Award’ category, the Best Screenplay Award was awarded to the ‘Joyland’ movie. Mohsen Tannabandeh in the ‘World War II’ movie won the Best Actor award, Juliet Bao Ngoc Doling in the ‘Tro Tan Ruc Ro’ movie won the Best Actress award, and Kavich Neang in the ‘White Building’ movie grabbed the Best Director award.

In addition, the NETPAC award for the best Vietnamese film went to the ‘Memento Mori: Dat’ movie.

South Korean film actress Moon So-ri presenting the special award of the Asian Film Jury for the 'World War III' movie. Photo: X.D

Vice Chairwoman of the Da Nang People's Committee Ngo Thi Kim Yen (second, right) presenting a special award from the Vietnamese film jury for the 'Dem Toi Ruc Ro' movie. Photo: X.D

Reporting by XUAN DUNG - Translating by M.DUNG