Hanoi Int’l Film Festival attracts 31 nations
More than 100 feature films and documentaries from 31 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region are being shown at the Hanoi International Film Festival which opened on November 25.
Amongst them are 37 competing in the categories of Best Feature Movie, Best Short Film and the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema Award.
Two Vietnamese films to compete with 12 others for Best Feature Movie are Thien Menh Anh Hung (Blood Letter) and Dam Me (Passion).
A number of screened films are rarely shown in Vietnam, including Orphan (Russia), Footnote (Israel), Iron Lady (Britain) and Amour (France).
The latter won the Golden Palm at the 2012 Cannes Festival, the highest prize awarded and presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition.
Vietnam will present 42 films in different categories with three themes: Hanoi, Vietnam’s Renewal period, and those produced from 2010 until now.
While Vietnamese and short foreign films are free, film-lovers can buy tickets at a 50 percent discount to watch foreign feature films.
Audiences will also have the chance to meet documentary makers, animators and film crews.
Hollywood actor Clifford Vivian Devon (Cliff Curtis) and Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, voted as the best Iranian actress of the decade by 130 Iranian film critics, will be at the festival.
The festival will feature a three-day workshop where experts, including Sonja Heinen from the World Cinema Foundation, Tessa Inkelaar from Film London and Michael J Werner from Fortissimo Films, are to share their experiences with emerging Asian directors.
The closing ceremony and awards presentations will be held at the Friendship Cultural Palace on November 29.