Cinema in the strategy of cultural industry development
In the direction of cultural industry development, cinema is identified as a field with great potential in both economic value and social spillover. According to Decision 2486/QD-TTg in 2025 on the strategy for developing cultural industries to 2030, vision 2045, cinema is among the 6 key areas that need to be prioritized for development, along with performing arts, advertising, software and entertainment games, handicrafts and cultural tourism.
Bringing cinema into the strategic industry group shows a new perspective: Cinema is not only an artistic activity but also a creative economic sector with the ability to generate revenue, attract investment and promote the national image. The Vietnamese film market in recent years has also recorded many growth signals.
According to Box Office Vietnam, Vietnamese film box office revenue in 2025 increased sharply compared to previous years, with many large-scale projects and diverse topics. Some notable films such as Red Rain, Tunnels: Sun in the Dark, Air Battle, Detective Kien, House of Fairies... Among them, Red Rain reached more than 700 billion VND, ranking among the highest-grossing films of Vietnamese cinema.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Hong Quan - Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Literary and Art Associations - said that cinema is holding an important position in the overall cultural development.
He commented: "Culture has become one of the fields that the Party and State are interested in, creating conditions for development on par with politics and socio-economics. Looking at that general picture, along with the process of development and striving to rise up, cinema is clearly one of the spearheads.
Young director Ha Le Diem believes that the current changes do not happen in a short time but are formed from the foundation of many generations of filmmakers.
As a young filmmaker in Vietnam, I clearly feel the great transformations of cinema in the past time. This change takes place in many different areas, from independent films, commercial films to film projects supported by the State" - director Ha Le Diem said.
Bottleneck in investment mechanism and film fund
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Lenh Hung Tu - Chairman of the Vietnam Cinema Association - said that the development of the industry in the past time has the contribution of both the state and private sectors.
Mr. Tu said that in recent years Vietnamese cinema has shown many signs of recovery. Besides films commissioned by the State, the strong participation of private film studios and increasingly diverse topics, from social psychology to history - war, have contributed to making the cinema's appearance more diverse and bringing more choices to audiences.
According to the Chairman of the Vietnam Cinema Association, for the industry to develop sustainably, it is necessary to build a mechanism to combine state resources and socialization. Allowing the combination of public investment with private investment will expand capital for film production, creating conditions to produce works of higher scale and quality.
Mr. Tu added: "One issue that we really want - which has also been mentioned in the amended Cinema Law - is the formation of a cinema fund to support activities such as film production, film distribution, film import and export, human resource training as well as organizing specialized events of cinema.
From an artist's perspective, Meritorious Artist Chieu Xuan believes that Vietnamese cinema is still developing in conditions with many limitations in technology and resources. According to her, filmmakers always strive to do better and are not content with the present. However, the script stage is still a weakness that needs to be improved, because building a good script requires a lot of research time along with investment in human resources and funding.
Meanwhile, young filmmakers, especially in the field of independent films, face financial problems right from the initial stage of the project. Director Ha Le Diem said that many independent filmmakers currently have to seek support from abroad.
What independent filmmakers in Vietnam still lack is funds or financial support programs for film production, especially for young filmmakers. The emergence of domestic support funds will create conditions for more independent film projects to be implemented and reach wider audiences" - Ha Le Diem said.
