Revolutionary cinema and historical journeys
On March 15, the Vietnam Cinema Association will organize a ceremony to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Cinema Day (March 15, 1953 - March 15, 2026).
73 years ago, on March 15, 1953, in Ban Bac village, Diem Mac commune, Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province, President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No. 147/SL establishing the National Enterprise for Cinematography and Photography of Vietnam, laying the foundation for the birth of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Cinema and Photography industry.
In 1959, the film "Chung mot dong song" was born, marking the first revolutionary film. "Chung mot dong song" was directed and filmed by Pham Ky Nam and Nguyen Hong Nghi. The film tells a story that takes place on both sides of the Ben Hai River after the 1954 Geneva Accords.
Common River" is likened to the first source that unlocked the fierce flow of Vietnamese revolutionary cinema in the years of the country's long resistance war against France and the United States.
In conditions of scarcity, difficulties, and rudimentary techniques - cameras, classic films of revolutionary cinema were born, reflecting the patriotism, the resilient and indomitable fighting spirit of the nation.
Sister Tu Hau, 17th parallel day and night, Abandoned field, Mid-front fire, Vu Dai village back then, Sister Dau... the films closely follow the war, closely follow the times, reflecting the beauty of the Vietnamese people in war, poverty, still rising up – holding guns and waiting for the day of victory.
The story at Vietnam Feature Film Studio has been discussed many times. In 2023, at the 70th anniversary of Vietnamese revolutionary cinema organized by the Cinema Department and the Vietnam Cinema Association at the Hanoi Opera House, People's Artist Tra Giang burst into tears when mentioning the current situation of Vietnam Feature Film Studio after equitization.
Vietnam Feature Film Studio - the place that produced the first film of revolutionary cinema "Chung mot dong song" - has gone through the difficult but glorious, arduous but brilliant war years. Generations of talented filmmakers have gone through the war and created valuable footage for revolutionary cinema.
After peace, the country reformed and innovated economic development. The market mechanism like a tornado with major revenue challenges has made filmmakers who were familiar with subsidies suddenly become out of place.
In the 2000s, state-owned films faced great pressure when they continuously suffered losses, Vietnam Feature Film Studio owed land tax, films made from state-funded funds could not sell tickets... The film studio was forced to equitize, and from here, countless controversies occurred and still have no end in sight.
The glorious past has not been able to "save" Vietnam Feature Film Studio when the operating mechanism of a film studio has completely changed.
The new era is placing new challenges on the shoulders of filmmakers, especially when the cultural industry is being implemented.
The strategy for cultural industry development to 2030, vision to 2045, identifies the pioneering role of cinema, considering cinema as a spearhead industry.
In the past 5 years, Vietnamese cinema has had strong transformations, and a "trillion-dong" breakthrough in 2025 when there were record-breaking box office films. Among them, "Red Rain" must be mentioned - a historical war film that created an unprecedented milestone when it reached a revenue of over 700 billion VND, creating a nationwide box office fever.
From "Chung mot dong song" to "Mua do" - Vietnamese cinema has traveled on journeys full of upheavals, witnessing historical upheavals, changing times, and continuous "steering moves" of Vietnamese films.
The revolution of Vietnamese cinema
In a conversation with the press, actor Quang Tuan revealed that his current cat-xe is about 1 billion VND/film. In 2025, Quang Tuan is likened to the new "hundred-billion actor" of Vietnamese films when he has 3 highly-grossing works: Devil's Landing 1, Tunnels: Sunlight in the Dark, and Searching for the Dragon Saber.
To see, box office guarantee faces are being paid high fees as film revenue is becoming a life-and-death battle. A new era of Vietnamese cinema has begun, where cinema needs to accelerate to become a new economic sector.
After a period of silence, cinemas are likened to a "desolate valley" after the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese films are returning stronger than ever.
The trillion-dong turnaround" in 2025 witnessed a spectacular breakthrough when cinema became a key industry. Vietnamese film revenue reached more than 3 trillion VND, nearly double compared to 2024.
It is predicted that in 2026, Vietnamese films will make great strides, when breaking through in both the number of works, and many quality projects are invested in production. In the Lunar New Year film season alone, 3 out of 4 films won big, with revenue exceeding 100 billion VND, of which Tran Thanh's "Thỏ ơi!!" reached over 400 billion VND.
In March-April alone, a series of Vietnamese films flocked to theaters, with rich and diverse topics. The number of hundred-billion-VND revenue films is increasing, and the "billion-VND" cast is increasingly proving their talent and strength.
According to director Bui Tuan Dung, when cinema becomes a spearhead industry of the cultural industry development strategy, Vietnamese cinema will need widespread attention and investment, from sending people to study abroad, building studios, developing quantity, investing in scripts, modernizing technical infrastructure... So that in the next few years, Vietnamese cinema will possess abundant resources, from talent to facilities, science and technology, synchronous techniques - from which it will "take off" and reach far.
