This year's Vietnam Film Festival takes place with the theme "Vietnamese cinema - Sustainable development and international integration in the new era". This event took place in a special context when Ho Chi Minh City was recognized by UNESCO as the first Creative City in the film industry in Southeast Asia.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Cinema and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City will create a scenario for the Vietnam Film Festival to be a national cultural and artistic event, not only honoring outstanding and creative films but also contributing to the development of the film market, towards successfully building a modern Vietnamese film industry rich in national cultural identity.
The National Film Festival will award prizes for the following film categories: Cinema, feature films, documentaries, feature films, cartoons, theoretical works criticizing cinema... In which, in each category, there is a separate award category. For example, in the feature film category, there will be awards categories for director, screenwriter, film, sound, actor/actress, best supporting actor...
There is currently no list of films competing in the Golden Lotus Film Festival, but looking back at the Vietnamese film market in 2025, we can see " fierce" competition with many impressive works.
In the film industry, Vietnamese films in 2025 created a breakthrough with 2 works in the war and history genres that caused a buzz. Previously, war-themed films were always picky about the audience and criticized for their poor settings and stories. 2025 marks a spectacular " steering wheel" when "geopolitics: Sun in the dark" and "Red Rain" cause a box office storm when going to the cinema during special anniversaries.
geography: Sun in the dark is jointly produced by the private sector, released in April on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification (1975-2025). The film realistically recreates the vital battle of the Cu Chi campaigners in the 1967,
The film is inspired by real events, set after the Cedar Falls swept-out battle (Vietnamese name: Earth Peel Campaign) from January 8 to January 26, 1967 during the Vietnam War by the US military.
geography: Sun in the dark is praised for its cinematic content with a strong personal style in the narration of director Bui Thac Chuyen. If it competes at the Vietnam Film Festival, the film with a revenue of more than 170 billion VND can be a strong candidate in the categories of Best Director and Best Actress.
"Red Rain" of the Army Cinema was released in August on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2. The film created an unprecedented fever, continuously sold out for a long time, set a series of revenue milestones and reached the finish line of more than 700 billion VND, becoming the highest-grossing Vietnamese film of all time.
"Red Rain" with a story inspired by the 80 days and nights battle to protect Quang Tri ancient citadel in 1972 made a strong impression on the audience, amidst the atmosphere of welcoming the A80 anniversary, the film inspired the pride of national history.
The work of director Dang Thai Huyen is considered the film of 2025. "Red Rain" if participating in this year's festival will "sweep" in many nomination categories from actor, director, screenwriter to designer, filming.
In the television industry, 2025, it will not show an outstanding mark of feature films on the small screen. The TV series script is being considered unfinished, lacking breakthroughs in theme, exploitation materials, and acting by a familiar cast.
The remaining genres are allowed to compare between science films, cartoons... documentaries that have more impressions when many films are produced and shown on the occasion of the country's important anniversaries such as Autumn Festival, Brilliant Sky chan... If participating in the competition, the series of documentaries released this year will create a quality season for the Vietnam Film Festival.
