HCM CITY (VNS)— The fourth annual online international short-film festival, YxineFF, kicked off on Monday in HCM City with the theme of "Choice".

"YxineFF hopes that filmmakers have the courage to follow their personal path and dare to have passion for the cinema, despite all the hardships they may encounter," said Marcus Manh Cuong Vu, president and leader of the film selection committee of YxineFF.

"You have the right to choose and the power of choice will lead you to the right direction," he added.

YxineFF also welcomes submissions in the international-competition category of both Vietnamese-made and foreign films that run no more than 20 minutes.

The local-competition category will accept films that run no more than 15 minutes. Two other categories are "panorama", which includes films of no more than 30 minutes, and "in-focus", which includes works of no more than 60 minutes.

When it ends in December, the festival will present many awards, including for best film, directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. A Rainbow Heart award will be given for films about the third sex.

The deadline for submissions is July 10. Organisers said that intellectual rights would be strictly protected.

With the slogan "Sharing, Love, Cinema", YxineFF began in May 2010 with a target audience of young independent filmmakers and cinema lovers.

In 2010, about 1 million people viewed the films online, increasing to 2 million in 2011 and 2.5 million in 2012.

For more information and to submit an application, visit the festival website at.-VNS