The State Film Paradox
“The Old Lady Who Walks the Road” directed by Tran Chi Thanh (produced by Feature Film Studio 1) is the first film to use the State budget through bidding, however, as Mr. Vi Kien Thanh said: “It is impossible to take a script from a certain unit out for bidding and assign it to another unit to execute. This is only feasible when we have a script bank invested in by the State, owned by the State…”.
The release of “The Old Lady” will follow the same path as previous films using the State budget. The film will be shown for free at film weeks, film festivals, etc. on holidays and anniversaries for the audience to watch.
Bringing "The Old Lady Going Out" to theaters to sell tickets is not feasible because without a mechanism for dividing the percentage for distributing films ordered by the State, what percentage of revenue is shared with theaters and production units when releasing the film to sell tickets; no theater wants to accept it.
Returning to the case of the film using the State budget “Dao, Pho and Piano” by director Phi Tien Son, which “sold out” tickets at the beginning of the year, it is the most successful State film in many years. During that time, the staff of the National Film Center had to work at full capacity, work overtime, work overtime… increase the number of screenings of “Dao, Pho and Piano”, all to serve the needs of the audience. But all revenue from movie ticket sales must be paid to the State budget. As for the staff and employees who worked overtime, the center paid for their overtime pay.
Thus, the paradox is that the longer a state-owned film is shown in theaters and the higher its revenue, the harder it is for the staff to work without getting any money from the film's revenue. Meanwhile, with other Vietnamese films produced by the private sector, the profit sharing ratio between the producer and the theater owner is 55:45 or 50:50... depending on the agreement.
It is known that for films with revenue of 100 billion VND or more, the profit sharing ratio will change and of course the producer will benefit much more.
According to Decree No. 131/2022/ND-CP "Detailing a number of articles of the Law on Cinema", in Article 7. Film production using the state budget clearly states: "Films produced using the state budget are special cultural products, associated with copyright from the creation stage to completion".
Meanwhile, if according to the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, State films are public assets. And since they are "public assets", all the money collected will be paid to the State budget, and cannot be used for reinvestment, or profits and revenue will be divided to encourage and motivate...
According to Mr. Vi Kien Thanh, from 2011-2022, the average State budget allocated for film production orders and film dissemination sponsorship is 65.6 billion VND/year, of which 500 million VND is for printing film copies and propaganda materials for film weeks and major holidays, making subtitles and printing film copies and propaganda materials for introducing Vietnamese films abroad. This budget is not for promoting and distributing works.
State films are not promoted systematically and expensively like other private films, which is a huge disadvantage, resulting in "silk clothes going out at night". "Peach, Pho and Piano" by director Phi Tien Son became a sensation starting from a Tik Toker and then a series of film reviews on social networks.
The Cinema Department also does not have the function of releasing films.
Therefore, the Department has proposed to assign the National Film Center to be responsible for distributing State-ordered films, and at the same time proposed to develop a decree on distributing and disseminating films using the State budget. Once State films are identified as “special cultural products”, it is certain that there needs to be a special mechanism for them. And only when there is a new decree on distributing State films, clearly stating the profit sharing ratio between the parties, as well as the percentage taken from film revenue for reinvestment... will film distribution have a legal corridor to be smooth, removing the long-standing obstacles.
