The 16th Vietnam Film Festival is underway in HCM City with all films being shown for free, with the aim of creating a friendly and warm atmosphere.

Actors of “I want to be famous” take photos with fans after the show.

Movies made for cinema are attracting the largest audiences. Fifteen movies are screened at once at the Thang Long cinema, at 9.30am, 3pm and 8pm. Films screened during the day include: “I Want to Be Famous”, “Be Alive”, “Leave Love of Dust” and “14 Days Off” are inferior to those introduced in the evening in luring the audience.

The audience queued early to be in the audience for “Passport for Love”, “Don’t Burn” and “Legend Is Alive”, which were screened at 8pm.Even films like “Adrift” and “Saving the Death” enjoyed large audiences des[pite being screened at inconvenient times.

The organizing board said more than 3000 people went to Thang Long cinema to watch the films on the large screen.

However while the blockbusters attracted large audiences, cartoons and documentaries were less popular. “Light Path”, a scientific documentary, shown at 3pm on December 9 attracted only four people while cartoons like “Bank of Time” and “Missing Fish” had only two viewers - a journalist and a film director.

Getting closer to the audience

However the aim of getting closer to the modern audience can be seen in the organizing board’s efforts in bringing this event to HCM City – the movie capital of Vietnam.

Fans welcome actors at the opening ceremony on December 8.

Before the festival, organizers sent free tickets to many organizations and delivered to them to individuals who had registered at saigonmedia.com.vn. However, people who didn’t have invitations or didn’t register online can still view shows.

For the first time in Vietnamese film festival history, a bulletin providing latest event information is delivered to the audience free of charge at all cinemas. Before each show, the audience also receive a questionnaire asking for comments on the movie they are about to watch.

However, advertising activities for this event have still be criticized with many people claiming they didn’t know about the free shows and movie schedules.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre