Roger Garcia, who has worked for 40 years in the movie industry, advised Vietnamese filmmakers to focus on their home audience rather than film festival juries.

Mr. Roger Garcia.

Talking with young filmmakers in Hanoi on August 26, Garcia analyzed a popular “disease” in countries with developing movie industries: filmmakers produce films for festivals, not for their audiences. Garcia argues this is a big mistake.

“Film festivals should be considered as the means, not the targets, of filmmakers,” says Garcia. “You should produce films for yourself, for your friends and for your audience. Don’t try to guess the tastes of film festival organizers. Don’t stay in Vietnam and try to figure out what someone in France would like. Popular movies are often valuable and have commercial potential.”

Many Vietnamese movies praised by experts and chosen for international film festivals are not popular at home.

Garcia shared information about various film festivals in the world, from the A-grade events in Europe (Cannes, Venice and Toronto) to popular American festivals (New York, Tribeca, Sundance, Seattle and San Francisco), prominent Asian film festivals (Pusan, Hong Kong, Tokyo) and new festivals in the Middle East (Dubai and Abu Dhabi).

Few film festivals simply focus on the arts and organizers commercialize their events to survive. Garcia reminded the audience that the true meaning of the festivals is to bring films to new audiences. At the festivals, film producers meet to trade films.

Garcia, who is the former director of the Hong Kong Film Festival, said that filmmakers should consider film festivals as opportunities to offer their products to film distributors, not as places to show a movie that will quickly be forgotten.

“Those who select films for prestigious festivals easily recognize who are the serious filmmakers and they are mainly interested in those people,” he advises. “Serious filmmakers always express their feelings and philosophy of life in movies that are about social issues relevant to their lives. The audience would not like watching a Vietnamese movie which copies a Hollywood action film. My advice is: you should make movies about your community!”

He says: “Foreigners see many interesting things in Vietnam. You have a movie industry and a new generation of audience and filmmakers, including many independent filmmakers. In my experience, new trends of movies in Asian countries and territories often produce surprises.”

Garcia detailed the Vietnamese films he has seen, including those produced in the 1960s and new movies made by local and overseas Vietnamese directors, such as “White Silk Dress” by Luu Huynh, “The Rebel” by Charlie Nguyen, “The Legend is Alive” by Luu Huynh, “Little Heart” by Nguyen Thanh Van, “Pao’s Story” by Ngo Quang Hai, “Two in One” by Dao Duy Phuc, “Bar Girls” by Le Hoang, “Saigon Eclipse” by Othello Khanh and “The Owl and the Sparrow” by Stephane Gauger.

Admitting that he hasn’t watched enough Vietnamese movies to make an accurate characterization, Garcia did say that, in his opinion, Vietnamese filmmakers have not clearly defined the genre and need to find the way to win the hearts of the audience. However, he noted that he had been impressed by “Bar Girls” and “The Rebel.”

He also notes that television culture is expanding widely in Vietnam, so filmmakers have to contend with stiff competition for their audience.

Garcia produced “The Big Hit” by TriStar and many other independent films. He is developing Pacific Film Partners to expand cooperative opportunities with Asian filmmakers. With decades of research in film as well, he is currently in Vietnam to study local movies.

VietNamNet/VNE