A scene from Il Était Une Forêt, a French film screened at #It’s Time To Act - A Nature Film Festival in Việt Nam. Photo courtesy of #It's Time To Act - Nature Film Festival in Vietnam

HÀ NỘI International and local environmentally themed films are being screened at an environmental film festival organised in Việt Nam for the first time.

Held in response to the UN General Assembly (UNGA)’s Climate Week this year (September 19-25), the film festival, entitled #It’s Time To Act - A Nature Film Festival in Việt Nam, is coordinated by the Spanish Embassy in Việt Nam with movies from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Peru, Venezuela, Spain, the UK and Việt Nam.

WildAct Vietnam, a wildlife conservation organisation, is the organisational partner of the first edition of this festival, joined by Vietnam Film Development Association, the Delegation of EU to Việt Nam and nine environmental organisations from Việt Nam.

The festival will be showing 17 feature films, documentaries, and short films with subtitles in Vietnamese. Many film screenings will be free for the public and in a hybrid format (both online & offline) at more than five venues in Hà Nội and HCM City.

The venues are: The National Cinema Centre, National Documentary Film Studio, University of Hanoi, Casa Italia, Goethe Institute and ƯƠM Arthub.

Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam María Del Pilar Méndez Jiménez said: “It is always a Spanish priority to be a bridge bringing together countries and peoples in favour of global public goods.

"As the coordinator of #It’s Time To Act - A Nature Film Festival in Vietnam, we are very honoured to work together with institutions, civil society, individuals and the environmental community of 14 countries across three continents, with the common intention of fostering international cooperation in raising awareness around what a sustainable future looks like, to pool one message: Only One Earth”.

Dr Oriol Solà Pardell, Secretary, Administrative, Consular and Cultural Affairs of Embassy of Spain, coordinator of the festival, is confident that the film festival will inspire audiences to protect and preserve Nature, and that the festival is an international effort to bring Hope to Nature.

“Let’s save the future,” he said.

Dr Trang Nguyễn, founder of WildAct Vietnam, said the festival will leave an impact among the young audience:

She said: “Documentaries may serve as an increasingly important tool for engaging people in conservation efforts, as outdoor experiences become less common in human’s lifestyle.

"Scientific evidence has shown that nature documentaries increase sensitivity to the species portrayed, increase environmental citizenship, increase support for conservation organisations, and generate positive attitudes and social norms that can support policy change.

"This film festival is a wonderful opportunity for the Vietnamese citizens to celebrate, connect and most importantly, act for nature.”

The film screening schedule, ticket registration and introduction about each film can be found on naturefilmfestival.vn or facebook.com/itstimetoact.naturefilmfestival. VNS