HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese film critic and President of the Việt Nam Film Development Association (VFDA) Ngô Phương Lan has received the insignia of Officer of the Order Arts and Letters from the French Culture Minister Rachida Dati. 

Since 1957, this award has honoured individuals who have contributed significantly to the arts. It is an expression of France’s recognition of those who have actively worked to promote art and culture both in France and abroad.

Lan currently is the president of the VFDA, which she founded in 2019. She was head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Department of Cinema from 2012 to 2018. 

"This distinction recognises an exceptional career — that of a woman whose commitment to cinema knows no boundaries or limits," said Minister Dati at the awarding ceremony held in Hà Nội on May 26.

"Your influence extends far beyond Việt Nam. You also embody the strength of the ties between our two countries.

"By awarding you the insignia of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, the French Republic honours your dedication to the development of Vietnamese cinema and your contribution to connect Việt Nam and other countries."

The minister also revealed that from this year, the French National Cinema Centre will support the Đà Nẵng International Film Festival (DANAFF), which was started by Lan in 2023. The centre will award a scholarship for the best film project at DANAFF. 

DANAFF has been co-held annually by VFDA, the Đà Nẵng People’s Committee and other relevant agencies. For the second edition, a seminar and a retrospective dedicated to the relationship between French and Vietnamese cinema was held. 

Lan was born to an art family. Her father, Ngô Mạnh Lân, was a leading animation director who was honoured with a number of international awards, including the Silver Pelican at the International Animation Film Festival in Mamaia (Romania) in 1966 for the film Kitten and the Golden Dove at the Leipzig International Film Festival (1970) for the film The Tale of Saint Gióng.

Her mother, actress Ngọc Lan, is a first generation graduate of Việt Nam Cinema School. She had her first leading role in the motion picture Lửa Trung Tuyến (Central Fire) when she was just a first-year student, and represented Việt Nam with the film at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1961.     

Phương Lan graduated with a degree in Cinematography from the Soviet State University of Cinema in 1988. She has published two books: Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema in 2007 and Outline of Vietnamese Cinema in the Period of Renovation and Integration in 2023.

Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema is the first book written in Vietnamese about Việt Nam's film history to be translated into English. The book provides a unique opportunity to examine filmmaking in Việt Nam and the Vietnamese diaspora, including in the United States. It includes a discussion of the history of Vietnamese cinema, the challenges of filmmaking in Việt Nam and the place of Vietnamese film on the Asian cinema map. 

Outline of Vietnamese Cinema in the Period of Renovation and Integration is about Vietnamese cinema during the era of renovation and about its integration over the past 30 years.

For her tireless dedication to the country's cinema industry, Lan was bestowed the National Award for Literature and Arts in 2017. At CineAsia in 2022, she won the title for her many contributions to copyright material in the Asia Pacific region. VNS