The workshop was organised as an important academic and professional forum to review the development journey of Vietnamese cinema since the renewal process began in 1986, while exchanging views on opportunities and challenges in the context of international integration and the strong transformation of the global audiovisual industry.
In her orientation remarks, Dr Ngo Phuong Lan, Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Cinema Promotion and Development Association and Director of the Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF), said: “Forty years ago, renewal not only opened a new stage of socio-economic development, but also created new creative spaces for literature and the arts. The spirit of looking directly at the truth and accurately reflecting the truth became an important driving force for artists to explore more deeply human life, social changes and the aspirations of the nation in the new period.”
Ngo Phuong Lan said many films from this period were not only outstanding works of art, but also valuable “spiritual documents” of a country undergoing transformation.
Speaking at the workshop, Assoc. Prof., Dr Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said 40 years of renewal had brought profound changes in all areas of social life. In that process, cinema has been one of the art forms that most vividly reflects the changes of the country and Vietnamese people.
Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong also underlined the need for Vietnamese cinema in the coming period to continue finding answers to major questions: how to create works of high ideological and artistic value that can still win over the market; how to tell Vietnamese stories through a modern cinematic language with international reach; and how to effectively harness new technological achievements while preserving the identity and humanistic values of cinematic art.
At the workshop, researchers, critics, cultural managers, directors, producers, film artists and experts from Viet Nam and abroad analysed the notable movements of Vietnamese cinema in the renewal period.
The presentations and discussion sessions focused on groups of issues such as changes in mechanisms, production, distribution and filmmaking thinking; new explorations in cinematic language; authors and prominent figures who have helped shape the face of Vietnamese cinema; the cinema market and industry and the balance between art and commerce; Vietnamese cinema and its path towards integration; the digital era and the future of Vietnamese cinema.
