Making magic: A poster for the French supernatural drama television series Les Revenants (The Returned), which won an International Emmy for Best Drama Series in 2013. It will be presented at the festival's opening ceremony on Saturday, January 17.

HA NOI  (VNS) — Clap! Hanoi 2015, Viet Nam's first-ever festival for emerging filmmakers from Viet Nam and France, will be held in the city from January 17 to 25.

The festival will present seven genres in film, television and online media: TV shortcoms, reality, short films, video art, young directors' first feature films, web content and TV series.

All films and shows will be screened free of charge at L'Espace, the French Institute of the French Embassy in Viet Nam, located at 24 Trang Tien Street.

Festival attendees will also have the chance to see selections from Clermont-Ferrand, the biggest short film festival in the world; the well-known French film Les Garcons et Guillaumne, A Table (Me, Myself and Mum), which won 5 Cesar Awards in 2014; and excerpts from the Vietnamese film Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere), which has won several international prizes.

L'Espace and Vietnam Plus, the Vienam News Agency's online newspaper, organised the event.

"We have two main objectives: promoting French artists and contributing to the development of the Vietnamese media industry," said Loic Wong, the audio-visual attache for L'Espace who came up with the idea for the festival.

"We wish to create discussions, inspiration and emulation between the two countries' industries. Our ambition is to present some new media formats to the public, through an artistic and professional lens, in order to give young artists some key tips for success."

During the week-long festival, several sessions will be organised, each presenting a different type of media with Vietnamese and English subtitles. French and Vietnamese industry professionals will also attend the screenings to talk about their experiences and give their opinions on the evolution of the entertainment industry.

Wong said L'Espace created the festival because it saw so many new developments in the field of filmmaking. TV series have developed artistically and commercially during the past decade in ways that were unheard of before. Easily accessible special effects tools and better cameras have allowed video artists to go further, and web videos can make unknown talents into stars.

More information about the festival can be found at clapfestival.com. — VNS