Victor Vu (r) and actress Van Trang of the Scandal - Bi Mat Tham Do pose for a photo with their colleagues at the 18th National Film Festival. The feature movie won a Golden Lotus Award and brought Vu the Best Director award and Trang Best Actress. — Photo tienphong.vn

QUANG NINH (VNS) — Filmmakers need to promote local tourism, said speakers at a conference on the sidelines of the 18th National Film Festival in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

"Cinema's potential for promoting tourism has not been effectively exploited," said Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the Cinema Department. "To fulfill that task, we need more effective co-operation between State cinema and tourism management agencies, film studios and tourism agencies."

Hoang Thi Diep, deputy general director of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, agreed, saying that cinema could be one of the best ways to boost tourism.

Making movies that promoted tourism was not difficult, said director Do Minh Tuan, as film directors could easily set scenes at beautiful locations.

"Quang Ninh, with the famous Ha Long Bay and Yen Tu Mountain, has inspired many films," Lan said, citing documentaries like Dao Ngoc Co To (Co To Gem Island) and Nguoi Dat Mo (People of Coal Mine Land) as well as fiction films like Con Loc Bien (Sea Whirlwind) and Ky Niem Doi Trang (Memory of Moonlit Hill).

People's artist, director Luong Duc, who has made eight documentaries on Ha Long Bay, proposed a policy shift. Rather than facilitating investors to direct filmmakers as at present, he said, the new policy should actively encourage filmmakers to be creative.

Movies like Indochine [by director Regis Wargnier] and The Lover [by Claude Berri] had helped draw French tourists to Viet Nam, said French journalist Frederic Ferrer.

He mentioned the first Vietnamese Film Festival in France, to be held next June, as a wonderful chance to promote the country as a tourist destination. If the film festival were organised regularly, the number of French tourists flocking to Viet Nam would certainly increase, he said.

Also in the framework of the film festival, actors met with workers at Cua Ong Coal Mining Company on Tuesday to talk and sing together.

Marquee names like Tra Giang, The Anh, Thanh Quy and Bui Cuong as well as young actors like Van Trang and Khuong Ngoc recalled old Vietnamese films featuring local coal miners and their enthusiastic support during the filming process in the province.

The awards

Feature films Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai (The Legend Makers) and Scandal – Bi Mat Tham Do (Scandal – Red Carpet Secret) won Golden Lotus Awards at the 18th National Film Festival, which ended in Ha Long City last night.

Nguoi Cong Su (The Partner), a film produced by Vietnamese and Japanese interests about famous 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist Phan Boi Chau won the Golden Lotus Award in the video category.

Golden Lotus Awards were also granted to the cartoon Bo Vang (Golden Cow), science film Bi Mat Tu Nhung Kho Tuong Co (Secrets from Statues of Buddha), and two documentaries Andre Menras - Mot Nguoi Viet (Andre Menras - A Vietnamese and Co Mot Co Hoi Bi Bo Lo (There is a Missed Opportunity).

The Silver Lotus Awards went to video Nuoc Mat Nguoi Cha (The Father's Tear), feature films Lac Loi (Lost) and Thien Menh Anh Hung (The Blood Letter), cartoons Tran Quoc Toan and Khoang Troi (Sky Space), science film Mua Chim Lam To (The Season Birds Make Nest), and documentaries Chuyen Dai o Benh Vien (A Long Story in Hospital and Ky Uc Mot Thoi (One-time Memory).

Nguoi Cong Su's main actor Pham Huynh Dong and Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai's Truong Minh Quoc Thai received the Best Actor in video and feature movie respectively. Meanwhile, actresses Van Trang in Scandal – Bi Mat Tham Do and Tang Bao Quyen in Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai shared the Best Actress awards.

The Best Director awards went to Nguyen Hoang Lam with Bi Mat Tu Nhung Kho Tuong Co (science), Tran Khanh Duyen of Bo Vang (cartoon), Nguyen Mong Long of Co Mot Co Hoi Bi Bo Lo (documentary), Tran Trung Dung of Nuoc Mat Nguoi Cha (video), and Vietnamese-American director Victor Vu for Thien Menh Anh Hung and Scandal - Bi Mat Tham Do.

The audience's award went to Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai and Nha Co Nam Nang Tien (Family with Five Fairies). — VNS