Diversifying Vietnamese cinema thanks to a new generation of directors
In addition to the names familiar to audiences in recent times such as: Ly Hai, Nguyen Quang Dung, Victor Vu... recently, Vietnamese cinema has also had Thu Trang, Hoang Nam, Tran Thanh Huy, Trinh Dinh Le Minh, Luu Thanh Luan... They are trying to make an impression on audiences.
As of the afternoon of February 17, the revenue of the film "The Billion Dollar Kiss" directed by Thu Trang has earned nearly 195 billion VND, according to Box Office Vietnam. Thus, with her first film as a director, Thu Trang is on the list of directors with hundreds of billions of films.
The box office race has just had the name "Soul Light". Director Hoang Nam entered the film industry for the first time, taking on most other important positions such as screenwriter, producer, and creative director of the film "The Heart of the Heart". Despite criticism for its script and acting, The Heart Light still earned more than VND94 billion.
In the near future, on February 20, the audience will also be able to watch Huynh Lap's film called "House of Ancestors". As a young director, House of Ancestors is Huynh Laps second film. Previously, he produced, directed and starred in the film "The blind Master: The dead raise their hands".
Huynh Lap is considered a strange song in Vietnamese cinema. He comes from a digital director and actor. After that, he entered the field of comedy, cinema and made his mark. Huynh Lap's efforts are proof that a generation of young directors is enthusiastic and eager to affirm their position in the hearts of the public.
In general, Vietnam having new directors is a positive signal for the film industry. Since then, many works have been created, increasing attraction and competition, making the film industry have many breakthroughs in content and revenue. However, directing is a difficult job with many challenges.
Challenges
Mai Thu Huyen has made many films such as: American Dream, fragile Flower Flowers... She has great ambitions for cinema, but most of her works have been criticized for disaster and suffered heavy losses. In addition to the names criticized for the quality of films, scripts, and direction, the film market is also harsh with names that are considered effective.
In 2024, Trinh Dinh Le Minh made an impression with "Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story" adapted from the work of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh. Previously, the 8X director had directed a number of films such as The Mother and Child Go, Invisible Evidence... He was awarded the Best Director award at the 22nd Vietnam Film Festival (2021) with the film "Invisible Evidence".
Trinh Dinh Le Minh is praised by the audience for his good cinematic thinking, but he has no luck with the revenue of the Vietnamese ticket office. Many of the projects he has directed have not had high revenue, in which "Invisible Evidence" failed at the box office. The film is expected to be like "Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story" and only earned 40 billion VND, unable to recover capital.
The immaturity, lack of experience, and difficulty in grasping the audience tastes of directors create difficulties for themselves in the film market.
The current audience is very different, with just a " click" of a rat, they can enjoy the cinematic experience with the world's best cinematic works on digital platforms. The thinking, level, and evaluation ability of the audience are increasingly far surpassing the quality of Vietnamese films.
The audience is becoming more and more strict and demanding. Therefore, if directors do not keep up with the audience's tastes, do not improve their filmmaking skills, and rely only on luck, it will be very difficult to survive.
