1. Enthusiastically welcoming our group of artists to attend DANAFF III, Mr. Le Trung Chinh, then Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Nang City, "boasted": "The film festival is an affirmation of Da Nang City's orientation to develop the city into a new center of cultural creativity and film industry in Vietnam and the region. In this city, cinema is not only an art, but also a driving force for economic development, a means of promoting cultural images, a bridge between people, a place to nurture and spread the values of truth, goodness, and beauty".
I was also impressed by the speech of Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, at the opening ceremony: “DANAFF is the international community’s recognition of Vietnam’s film industry. In addition, the support of major film industries such as China, Japan, India, Korea, Kyrgyzstan… shows that Da Nang has become a place where ideas and creativity intersect, where culture creates culture; where the innovation of youth meets traditional crafts and knowledge built up over many generations. Just a few kilometers away from here is Hoi An - a UNESCO-recognized world heritage and also a creative city in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Here, UNESCO truly feels the warmth and sincerity like a family”.
During the 7 days of the film festival, what I felt the most was the stature and scale of our leading film festival today. That is not my subjective feeling or that of my literary colleagues, but also the common thought of all those attending this film festival. Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Cinema and also Director of DANAFF III, said: “DANAFF III has done many great things. First of all, it is to honor and promote the precious heritage of cinema through two key programs: Half a century of Vietnamese war films since the country's reunification and Korean Cinema Spotlight. This year's DANAFF also has 11 international films that are being shown for the first time as world premieres or international premieres. This is something that in previous festivals, we only dared to hope for, and now it has come true.”
I, along with many journalists, artists, producers, and famous filmmakers of Korean cinema... attended most of the film screenings, interacted with the audience, and exchanged experiences within the framework of DANAFF III. Among them, there were many exciting and meaningful seminars such as: Panorama of Asian cinema, Imprints of Vietnamese war films since the country's reunification, Korean cinema: Lessons from international success and experiences in developing the film industry... It can be said that we really had a week of "living, feeling, and growing up" with cinema at DANAFF III.
2. I was lucky to stay in the same hotel with Vietnamese cinema stars of the past, such as: Meritorious Artist Dang Tat Binh and his wife, People's Artist Lan Huong - The Hanoi Girl of the Past; and actors Thanh Loan, Chieu Xuan, Minh Chau, Minh Thu, Nguyen Huu Muoi, Minh Trang, Hoang Cuc, Ngo Le Quyen, Vo Hoai Nam... Directors Phi Tien Son, Dao Xuan Phuc, Bui Tuan Dung, Nguyen Quang Dung, Nguyen Trinh Hoan... Although time has passed, they are still the memories of many generations of Vietnamese audiences, and for them, the love of cinema is always burning in their souls.
I was able to go with 3 film crews to attend 3 screenings and interact with the audience. Those films were: Life (script by Nguyen Manh Tuan, directed by Doan Xuan Phuc), The Legend of Quan Tien (adapted from the short story of the same name by writer Xuan Thieu, script by Doan Tuan, directed by Dinh Tuan Vu) and Ra Bac vao Nam (script by and directed by Phi Tien Son). These are not new films, but for many audiences at DANAFF III, this was probably the first time they had seen them and I witnessed many emotions after watching the films. And those emotions were even more intense after the screenings when there were interaction sessions, where the audience got to listen to the filmmakers themselves talk about the hardships of making the films back then. The emotions of the filmmakers, despite the many years, are still so strong, and the public's love for cinema and our war films is also so intense...
3. Many people have mentioned the number of more than 100 films screened at DANAFF III, but I would like to mention another mark, the mark of world movie stars on the red carpet of the Vietnam Film Festival. There are many famous names, including many top Asian stars such as Moon So Ri, Park Sungwoong, Kim Hye Soo - Idol Nation (Korea); Richar.R Faulkerso Jr. (Philippines); Shantanu Maheshwari (India)... All of them walked on the splendid red carpet of DANAFF III, right under the night sky with brilliant fireworks during the fireworks festival. Da Nang has truly become a new cinema destination of Asia.
Perhaps everyone has their favorite artists and actors at DANAFF III, but for me, the most brilliant star on the red carpet that night was another person, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, who clearly demonstrated her excellent organizing talent, contributing to an impressive and successful film festival, contributing to the overall development of Vietnamese cinema.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/lien-hoan-phim-chau-a-da-nang-lan-thu-3-nam-2025-nhung-dem-ruc-ro-ben-dong-song-han-post803552.html
Comment (0)