The festival will be an opportunity for filmmakers to introduce their best creative works and to honour the best of the talents in the industry, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong said, adding that it is hoped to stimulate the Vietnamese cinema industry and contribute to popularising the image of Vietnam as a safe, friendly, hospitable, integrated and developed country.

Speaking at his recent working session with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Department of Cinematography, the deputy minister said that members of the festival organisation board need to keep close coordination and review each task to ensure that activities and events at the festival will be effective, contributing to enhancing the brand of HANIFF.

HANIFF, held biennially since 2010, aims to build a new film festival brand and affirm the position of Vietnamese cinema in international cinematography and attract the attention of world filmmakers to Vietnamese cinema.

Through its six editions, the festival has become a prominent event in the Vietnamese film industry that attracts the attention of the domestic and international visitors to cinema, creating inspiration and motivation to build and develop the industry.

This is also an activity that creates opportunities to expand the Vietnamese film market to the world and integrate it into the international film market.

The 7th HANIFF will also have film awards, show out-of competition films, host seminars and film project markets and have some outdoor screenings.

A wide range of other events will also be happening, including meeting movie stars and exhibitions introducing the cinema industries of Japan, Germany, Russia, China and the Republic of Korea, which are expected to take place at Tran Nhan Tong pedestrian street and Ly Thai To Garden in downtown Hanoi.

At the last HANIFF, there were 800 international and Vietnamese delegates from over 50 countries and territories with participation of 123 films including motion pictures, short films, documentaries and animation.

Award-winners included best film for Brazilian Paloma in the main official competition, the Jury Award for feature-length Woman on the Roof produced by Poland and Sweden, while the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) awards went to Bone Marrow and The Villain Kotrabid from the Philippines./. VNA