Published:  00:00 Wednesday - July 21, 2010

The Vietnam Cinematography Association (VCA) began its 7th congress in Hanoi on July 21 with 500 delegates from across the country taking part.

Addressing the congress, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said the association made strong contributions to the country’s cinematography. Since and during the national battles for independence, film artists made sacrifices. Many even gave their lives to produce works to inspire the people of Vietnam. He said even after the years of conflict, the cinematography sector had still done so much for preserving Vietnam’s cultural identify.

Mr Nhan proposed that in the future, the association should pay more attention to other issues, such as human resources training, working with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Education and Training to make development plans. He also asked the association to promote cinematographic works to public, especially viewers in remote and mountainous areas as well as foreigners.

VCA president, Tran Luan Kim reported that despite great efforts, there are Vietnamese films to mention but a few for a country with a population of nearly 90 million people. The national cinematographic sector is suffering from increasing pressure in an unequal competition with foreign ones. In business, the sector is not strong enough to develop on par with market demand.