Attendees at a national workshop held in Hanoi on Wednesday to discuss the multitude of issues plaguing the Vietnamese film and literature industries were not shy about voicing disdain for the current state of literary and cinematic art in Vietnam.
Nearly two decades after the Vietnamese government launched a program aimed at exposing a larger segment of the population to art and literature, industry stakeholders claim that little headway has been made in reigniting a love for homegrown art amongst the masses.
The program, which focused mainly on the construction of performance halls and lobbying the government to relax its grip on several branches of the creative arts, is now viewed by many as a failure.
Nearly all of the state-founded cinemas in Hanoi have been converted into showrooms or coffee shops, Pham Quang Long – former director of the Hanoi culture and tourism department – said at the event, addressing the dozens of researchers, officials, journalists, and artists from across the country in attendance.
Citing his own survey, Long claimed that families in Hanoi are going years without going to the cinema, and some parents have cut the amount of storybooks they are buying for their children down to just one or two annually.
Long also noted that despite the emergence of private film producers, the expansion of privately-owned cinemas, and increasing box office ticket revenues, Vietnamese cinema is in a current state of decline.
Film director Dang Nhat Minh described the domination of privately-owned cinemas and movie companies led by mercenary attitudes as an “exceedingly chaotic landscape.”
Read the complete article on Tuoi Tre News.
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