AWARD WINNER - Hãy Thức Tỉnh và Sẵn Sàng (Stay Awake, Be Ready), a short film by Phạm Thiên Ân, won the Illy Short Film Award at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight), an independent contest held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival 2019. Photo courtesy of CJ CGV Vietnam

HCM CITY – The HCM City is working on a plan to develop the film industry through 2030.

Under the plan, the city will host a short film contest in May which will be a platform for the launch of its first international film festival.

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thuý, deputy director of the Culture and Sports Department, said at a conference in HCM City on April 14 that the department would cooperate with the city Cinematography Association to organise the short film contest as a start for the first HCM City International Film Festival.

She said: “The city is determined to build the festival into its own brand. The event will be organised annually, becoming a regular destination for filmmakers from Việt Nam and other countries. It aims at contributing to the city’s socio-economy and tourism development.”

The city now has several short film contests, attracting thousands of filmmakers, such as the CJ Short Film Project and the 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) from which winning films have been sent to compete at international film festivals.

Thúy added that apart from film festivals, the city would issue favourable policies for developing its film industry.

The department has suggested the city build a new film studio in the outlying district of Củ Chi, covering an area of hundreds of hectares.

The studio will provide modern equipment and technologies for filming, and also become a new tourism destination in the city.

The city now has only a few studios for filming. Most of them are small with an area of thousands of square metres and can be used for making TV series, music videos, commercial videos and game shows.

There is only Hoà Phú Studio in Củ Chi District of the HCM City Television Station, with an area of 49.5 hectares, which can be used for both indoor and outdoor filming, and for all kinds of movie themes from rural and urban life to war.

The studio was the setting for many TV series about the life of people in the south in the early 20th century such as Tơ Lòng Vương Vấn (Missing Love) and Con Nhà Nghèo (The Poor).

The department also plans to build a film production centre, offering services in filming, preproduction and post-production.

Building a cinema museum will be one of the city’s targets to promote Vietnamese history, culture and people to the world.

The museum will display artefacts and equipment about the history and development of the film industry in Việt Nam and HCM City.

In addition, the department is working with relevant agencies to build a human resources plan for the film industry. – VNS