The opening ceremony was attended by Party Central Committee members and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh, delegations from embassies and a large number of directors, actors, actresses and film producers from over 30 countries and territories around the world.
The festival provides an opportunity for Vietnamese artists and actors to exchange cultural values and professional experience and helps promote Vietnam to the rest of the world, according to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh.
Under the theme ‘Asian-Pacific Cinema – Unity and Development’, this year’s festival has attracted more than 200 films from 38 Asian-Pacific countries and regions participated in the competition.
Films on screen include 37 of which will compete at the festival in various categories including the best feature film, short film, documentary and animation. Vietnam will enter two feature films: ‘Dam Me’ (Passion) and ‘Thien Menh Anh Hung’ (Blood Letter).
The festival opened with a Vietnamese feature film named ‘Cat Nong’ (Hot Sand), directed by Le Hoang and produced by the Liberation Film Studio.
Additionally, activities, including a ‘Creativity Camp’ for young artists and an exhibition entitled ‘Vietnamese Cinema during the Renovation Period’ will be held during the festival, alongside a series of workshops relating to cinematic work
The closing awards ceremony will be held on November 29 at Hanoi’s Friendship Cultural Palace.
The festival, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Department of Cinematography, honours Asian cinematography and aims to boost cultural exchanges and co-operation among different international film industries.
