HCM CITY — Reruns of Kinh Van Hoa (Kaleidoscope) and Xom Cao Cao (Grasshoppers Hamlet) are being broadcast on television because of a shortage of locally made films and TV series for children.
The acclaimed series have been shown many times on HTV Channel 7 and television around the country for years.
"We lack scripts to make new TV series for children," Chu Thien, a well-known director who has made noteworthy films and TV series targeting children.
"I've received some scripts but I've decided not to develop any of them," Thien said.
"Making series for children is not easy. I like scripts featuring childhood's innocence and their ways of solving their own problems," he said.
Thien's recent series Gia Dinh Phep Thuat (A Witchcraft Family) is filled with amusing scenes and circumstances and has received a warm welcome from young audiences.
With a script by Kwon In-chan from South Korea, the 500-episode series is Viet Nam's longest TV series for children.
The series is being screened on HTV7 on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings. Fewer TV series for children are being made each year.
The series have been typically shown during children's summer holidays. At least three new series for children were screened on HTV during summer vacation several years ago.
Last year, children saw the 30-episode Mua He Soi Dong (Interesting Summer Holidays) and the 21-episode Nhung Ngay He Xanh (Green Summer).
Interesting Summer is about six teenagers who become good friends while on a 10-day summer vacation.
The 30-episode Giac Mo Bien (Dreams of Sea) is the only new series being screened on HTV Channel 7 for the summer. It is about the dreams of a group of junior high school students whose parents urge them to attend extra classes during summer vacation.
TV stations also lack game shows and entertainment programmes for children.
"With so few TV programmes to watch, my son buys ghost stories which fill the shelves of bookstores," Mai Hoa, mother of a nine-year-old boy, said.
For many film directors making films and series, focusing on romance and family issues is much easier than making productions that target children aged between six and 14.
Film studios often make films and series in exchange for commercial spots during TV. But companies usually choose to advertise their goods during peak viewing hours and not during children's series. The shortage of child actors is another difficulty faced by film studios.
"Filming must be done during summer holidays when child actors are not busy with their studies at school," said film director Do Phu Hai. — VNS