Attending the press conference on the afternoon of November 20 in Ho Chi Minh City were Mr. Ta Quang Dong - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Steering Committee of the Film Festival; Ms. Tran Thi Dieu Thuy - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; Mr. Dang Tran Cuong - Director of the Department of Cinema, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Film Festival; Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City...
Film festival in the year of big milestones
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the 24th Film Festival (LHP) was held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025), the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, towards the 14th National Congress of the Party. This is also an opportunity to look back on the 55-year journey of the Vietnam Film Festival - an event marking half a century of growth of the country's cinema.
This year, Ho Chi Minh City - the locality has just joined the Creative Cities in the film industry network chosen to host the Film Festival. The opening ceremony took place at 8:00 p.m. on November 21 at Thong Nhat Hall, while the closing ceremony and award ceremony took place on November 25 at the Army Theater and were broadcast live on HTV.
More than 200 films were submitted to the festival. After the selection, the Organizing Committee announced the list of 144 films in the official round, including 16 feature films, 36 documentaries, 14 science films and 21 animated films. In addition, 57 works from the panoramic film program were also screened at theaters Galaxy Parc Mall, Cinestar Hai Ba Trung and CGV Hung Vuong Plaza, giving the public the opportunity to watch the panoramic view of Vietnamese cinema in the period of 2023 - 2025.
In addition to the traditional award system such as Golden Lotus, Silver Lotus, Jury Award... This year's festival also added certificates of merit to the unit that released the most Vietnamese films in the period of 2023 - 2025, as well as honoring domestic and foreign individuals who have contributed to the development of Vietnamese cinema.
At the press conference, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong - Head of the Festival Steering Committee emphasized that this Film Festival has a special meaning in the flow of major events of the country. With the slogan "Vietnamese cinema - Sustainable development and international integration in the new era", the festival aims to honor artistic values, while affirming the province of cinema in the context of international integration.
He said that the development strategy of cultural industries just approved by the Prime Minister on November 14, 2025 is the foundation for Vietnamese cinema to set stronger goals for quality and market. The festival not only evaluates films, but also creates a space for exchanges and experiences between artists, production units, and distributors, promoting cinema to become an important cultural industry.
Director of the Department of Cinema Dang Tran Cuong - Head of the Organizing Committee emphasized the scale of this festival with many special activities: photo exhibition "Ho Chi Minh City Strengthens Along with the country through the perspective of cinema", specialized seminars, exchanges between artists and students, art program "Music and fashion performance in films", survey of cinema models, as well as local cinema development promotion program - a new highlight of this year's festival.
Revenue is only a part, while the core is still the good, the beautiful
At the press conference, a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper asked whether there will be preferential treatment for revolutionary films or films with high revenue such as Red Rain, Geography, Mai... when competing for awards at this festival? Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong affirmed that the most important criterion in the judging process is still the artistic value, ideology and depth of the work. "The good, the beautiful, the philosophy and the artistic criteria are the only thing that balances the films participating in the competition. Revenue is only a part of the criterion, he emphasized.
According to Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong, revenue is an important measure, showing the film's appeal to the audience and competitiveness in the market, but the core is still the artistic value that the film brings. Therefore, revenue is not a decisive factor in the judging process.
He also affirmed that the judges of the National High School are prestigious researchers, directors, screenwriters, and artists who work independently and objectively.
