Twenty-one contemporary feature films, including new hot films that have just opened in theatres, will be screened free of charge during the festival in Hanoi, such as "Song Lang", “Co can nha nam nghe nang mua" (Like an old house), and “Da co hoai lang” (Hello Vietnam). The contemporary film screening projects also gather award winning films, as well as films of public interest. A highlight of this year’s programme is the new award for the Most Popular Vietnamese Film (for feature films) voted for by the audience. In addition, 14 short films, including documentaries and cartoons, will also be featured as part of the film festival. The HANIFF V will take place from October 27 to 31 with the participation of over 500 feature and short films (documentaries, scientific films and animation) from nearly 50 countries and territories worldwide. … [Read more...] about 35 Vietnamese movies to be introduced at 5th Hanoi int’l film festival
Film
Smoking in film largely banned
Newly-issued Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Circular 25 has ordered firms and artists to limit smoking scenes in films and plays. Smoking on screen will be banned The new circular bans actors from smoking on screen in films for general audience unless the purpose is criticism. Smoking scenes are banned in works for children or to praise individuals and organisations that become successful from cigarettes. Cigarettes can still be used for artistic purposes or to be historically accurate, however, actors must not smoke for real. If there are many smoking scenes in a film, it must be rated or gives audiences warnings about smoking. Vietnamese spend approximately VND31trn (USD1.24m) on tobacco and VND24trn go into treatments for just five out of 25 tobacco-related illnesses every year. The circular will take effect from November 25. … [Read more...] about Smoking in film largely banned
Japanese director Kohei Oguri to chair Hanoi film festival jury
Other members of jury include Polish production designer and set decorator Allan Starski, Iranian director Shahram Mokri, Korean producer Lee Dong Ha and Vietnamese actor and producer Ngo Thanh Van. Japanese director Kohei Oguri won the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival for his film The Sting of Death, which tells the story of couple isolating themselves from the outside world as the attempt to salvage their faltering marriage. In 1985, he was a member of the jury at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. His other works include Sleeping Man, Buried Forest and Foujita. Meanwhile Allan Starski is best known for winning an Oscar for best production design for Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List along with Ewa Braun. In 2002, he won a Cesar for The Pianist by Roman Polanski and continued to work with this renowned director on Oliver Twist. Shahram Mokri won the special orizzonti award for innovative content at the 70th Venice International Film Festival for … [Read more...] about Japanese director Kohei Oguri to chair Hanoi film festival jury
Bruce Willis film cancelled after Fan Bingbing tax case
Fan is one of China’s most high-profile celebrities, but the 36-year-old has since become embroiled in a tax evasion scandal. — AFP PhotoViet Nam News BEIJING — A Chinese World War II epic featuring Hollywood A-listers Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody has been shelved after co-star Fan Bingbing was targeted by authorities for tax evasion, local media reported. Fan is one of China’s most high-profile celebrities, and has appeared in blockbusters X-Men: Days of Future Past and the Chinese version of Iron Man 3. But the 36-year-old megastar disappeared from the public eye for months this year, fuelling speculation that she was being investigated in her home country. She has since apologised and been ordered to pay nearly US$130 million in back taxes and fines, the official Xinhua news agency reported on October 3. Her latest film, by Chinese director Xiao Feng, was due to open next week. But Xiao wrote on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform on … [Read more...] about Bruce Willis film cancelled after Fan Bingbing tax case
Heritage Space to screen Japanese film “A Page of Madness”
Heritage Space to screen Japanese film “A Page of Madness”The Saigon Times Daily A scene from “A Page of Madness”, which will be screened at Heritage Space on October 25 - PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ORGANIZER HCMC - Heritage Space in Hanoi will screen the 1926 Japanese silent film “Kurutta Ippêji” (A Page of Madness) by Teinosuke Kinugasa on October 25, with the accompaniment of a live soundtrack (electronics improvised set) performed by Iván Ferrer-Orozco and other musicians. “A Page of Madness” is one of the landmarks of the Japanese silent film industry from the 1920s. An extremely beautiful and revolutionary film considered lost for 45 years, a copy was discovered by its director, Teinosuke Kinugasa, inside rice cans in his old house in 1971. Based on a story of the Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kwabata, the film takes place in an asylum where a woman is incarcerated after losing her mind and trying to kill her own son by … [Read more...] about Heritage Space to screen Japanese film “A Page of Madness”