HA NOI — Hollywood director Phillip Noyce will judge the 48-Hour Film (48HFP) Project Viet Nam 2012.

Noyce, who achieved fame with many recent blockbusters such as Salt, The Quiet American, The Bone Collector, Dead Calm and Patriot Games, has agreed to help out with the competition this year.

"This is an amazing chance for Vietnamese filmmakers to have their films judged by an international high profile director like Phillip Noyce.

This is also a great thing for the developing Vietnamese film industry," said Ross Stewart, producer of the 48HFP in Viet Nam.

The project will take place in HCM City on September 14-16, and in Ha Noi on September 28-30.

The world's largest timed film-making competition, 48FHP, challenges people worldwide to make a short film in 48 hours, from writing and casting to shooting and editing.

In Viet Nam, the project has been ongoing since 2010, seeking out fresh filmmaking talents to expose to the world.

Since its 2001 launch in Washington DC by a pair of independent film producers, Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, the event now takes place in 165 cities on six continents.

Last year, over 1,630 filmmakers in Viet Nam joined the project, producing 130 short films. The winning film from Viet Nam, Canh Ba Ba (Tortoise Soup), won the award for third Best Film in the international 48HFP contest and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France in May and at the NAB (The National Association for Broadcasters) Show in the US in April. — VNS