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2nd Danang Asian Film Festival (2-6 July 2024) Vietnam

Danang Asian Film Festival 1
(Crédit photo FICA)
The 2nd Asian Film Festival in Danang (Vietnam) took place from 2 to 6 July 2024.

The 2nd Asian Film Festival in Danang (Vietnam) took place from 2 to 6 July 2024.

The 63 films in the selection are divided into 7 sections: 

Asian in-competition films includes 13 feature films from China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Australia (Asia-Pacifique). Among these thirteen films shot in 2023 and 2024, 18 youth by South Korean director Ei Il Seon is a world premiere. 

They are judged by the International Jury chaired by the writer-director (Balzac and the little Chinese tailor), the other members are Mariette Rissenbeek (Berlin festival), Georges Goldenstern (Cannes festival), Tran Nu Yen Khé (actress: l’Odeur de la papaye verte, etc.) and Ha Le Diem, Vietnamese director ().

Dai Sijie
Dai Sijie (crédit photo FICA)

Vietnamese in-competition films consists of 10 feature films made, one in 2022, seven in 2023 and two in 2024. They are very varied: soap opera, horror, fantasy, history, costume film, romance, family film, etc.

These 10 films compete for prizes awarded by the National Jury and the Netpac jury.

, director, producer and screenwriter (Hong Kong) chairs the national jury with Lorna Tee, producer, programmer (Malaysia), Le Khanh, Vietnamese actress (Vertical Summer, …), Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, producer (Vietnam), Leon Quang Le, director (USA – Vietnam). 

Stanley Kwan, Jean-Marc Therouanne, Phan Dang Di
Stanley Kwan, Jean-Marc Therouanne, Phan Dang Di (crédit photo FICA)

Stanley Kwan, Jean-Marc Therouanne, Phan Dang Di (crédit photo FICA)

The president of the Netpac Jury is Jean-Marc Thérouanne, co-director and co-founder of the Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie in Vesoul (France), the other two members are Mara Matta, research professor at the University of Rome (Italy) and Phan Thi Bich Ha, professor in cinema (Vietnam)

Netpac jury : Jean-Marc Therouanne, chairman, Mara Matta, Phan Thi Bich Ha
Netpac jury : Jean-Marc Therouanne, chairman, Mara Matta, Phan Thi Bich Ha (crédit photo FICA)

Vietnamese cinema today consists of 18 feature and short films, documentaries and animation. 

Festival-goers vote for one of these 18 films to award the audience prize. 

Selected Films by people’s artist: Director : this retrospective offers to see and see again, in the presence of Dang Nhat Minh, aged 86, the last 7 feature films of the master of Vietnamese cinema including his testament film Jasmin.

A day entitled Signature Style Of Director Dang Nhat Minh is devoted to the study of films and short stories by Dang Nhat Minh, director and writer, to emphasize the importance and multiplicity of his talents. Seven speakers, six Vietnamese academics and a French festival director (Jean-Marc Thérouanne) followed one another to show the multiple facets, complexity and coherence of a life’s work in the service of cinema and literature. 

Dang Nhat Minh Day ((credit photo FICA)
Dang Nhat Minh Day ((credit photo FICA)

Focus on French cinema and French film about Vietnam is a selection of 8 auteur films, including Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Lover, or genre (fantasy, science-fiction, etc.).

To complete this presentation of the historical ties between France and Vietnam, a day is devoted to the relations between French cinema and Vietnamese cinema under the high patronage of the French Embassy in Vietnam and the French Institute, in the presence of SEM Olivier Brochet, Ambassador of France to Vietnam. 

Olivier Brochet, SEM French ambassador, Tran Nu Yen Khê, French actress
Olivier Brochet, SEM French ambassador, Tran Nu Yen Khê, French actress (crédit photo FICA)

Films about Da Nang consists of 4 documentary films related to Da Nang. 

Varan Documentary series is a selection of 3 documentary films from Ateliers Varan in Vietnam. The director Tran Phuong Thao (Worker’s dream) has been the linchpin for twenty years. The Ateliers Varan through their training work have forged strong links between France and Vietnam. 

In addition to the traditional Question/Answer debates at the end of the film screenings with the film teams, there is also a panel discussion on Sharing Experiences and Networking Coastal Film Festivals. Opportunities for Da Nang City and DANAFF, Seminar International co-production, experience and Development solution, Talent Incubator workshop. 

The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2nd Da Nang Asian Film Festival take place at the Ariyana Convention Hall, where all the world’s greats, from the Emperor of Japan, to Donald Trump, through Vladimir Putin or Xi Jiping deliver their protocol speeches when they come to Vietnam.

The opening ceremony of the Festival places special emphasis on festival guests (film teams, honorary guests, jury members, sponsors). For the closing ceremony, the anticipation of the announcement of the winners is naturally highlighted. 

In total, 14 prizes were distributed in 2 categories: Asian films and Vietnamese films. To this is added the NETPAC Award for Best Vietnamese Film and the Audience Award for the most acclaimed Vietnamese film among those participating in the Current Vietnamese Cinema program.

This last prize was awarded to a series of cartoons: The carp of the genius of the home, The strange village of the sweet potato and These funny unicorn dancers. The NETPAC Prize for Best Vietnamese Film was awarded to Face off 7: A Wishdu director Ly Hai. The Netpac jury justified its choice with these words: 

« For the HEARTWARMING RENDITION OF A UNIVERSAL STORY THAT CONVEYS, in REALISTIC STYLE AND ACCOMPLISHED PERFORMANCES, THE HUMAN TRAGEDY OF ONE OWN’s PARENTS’ AGING AND PASSING AWAY. »

Lu Hai and Face Off 7 : One Wish Team 
Lu Hai and Face Off 7 : One Wish Team 

In the Vietnam Film Award category, no screenwriter was awarded. The Best Actor Award was given to Thai Hoa in the film Nhot Is Dying to Marry. The Best Actress Award went to Phuong Anh Dào in the film Mai, thanks to which Tran Thành won the Best Director Award. Mai also won the Best Vietnamese Film Award, while the Best Cast Award went to Face Off 7: A Wish. 

In the Asian Film Awards category, the best screenwriter was Liu Jiayin with the film Precious Lives. The Best Actor Award went to Wu Kang Ren in Eternal Wish. The Best Actress Award went to in Ann’s Life. Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Thiên An won the Best Director Award for L’arbre aux papillons d’or, which won the Caméra d’or in the Directors’ Fortnight selection at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Ann’s Lifeand finally, the best Asian film is Cu Li Never Cries by director-screenwriter Pham Ngoc Lân.

If we had to summarize the in a few words: professionalism, sense of welcome, serious, fraternal.

Looking forward to the 3rd Festival …

Article written on July 8, 2024 by Jean-Marc THEROUANNE, chairman of the Netpac Jury on the return of the 2nd DANAFF. 

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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