Thu Anh

HCM CITY — Vietnamese films are ready to go back to the cinema after being suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Highlighted films, Gai Gia Lắm Chieu V – Những Cuoc Đời Vương Giả (The Tricky Ladies V: Luxurious Lives) and Em va Trịnh (You and Trịnh), were scheduled to be in cinemas early this year. 

Both works were postponed after cinemas in Ha Noi and HCM City, the two biggest markets in the country, closed on May 3 when the fourth wave of COVID-19 started in late April. 

Ha Noi, HCM City and southern provinces allowed many activities, markets, supermarkets and services to reopen on October 1. However, cinemas were still not on the list. 

Cinemas have reopened in northern provinces such as Bắc Ninh, Hạ Long, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai and Thai Nguyen. 

According to a representative of Thien Ngan (Galaxy) Studio, one of the country’s leading film distributors - cinema owners, the agency and other cinema owners and film producers sent a letter to the Prime Minister and HCM City People's Committee proposing a reopening on October 15.

“We’re ready to reopen our cinemas in HCM City,” she said. 

Thien Ngan in co-operation with Lotte Entertainment will distribute Vietnamese films including Gai Gia Lắm Chieu V – Những Cuoc Đời Vương Giả, a VNĐ46 billion (US$2 million) production by young directors Bảo Nhan and Nam Cito.

The film is about love and women. Its official trailer was released on YouTube in December and has attracted more than 1.7 million viewers.

Its scheduled screening was cancelled three times starting in February due to the virus outbreak. 

Em va Trịnh features the life and love of late songwriter Trịnh Cong Sơn. Sơn is famous for his anti-war songs and is called the "Bob Dylan of Viet Nam” by his fans at home and abroad.

The film’s producer Thien Ngan and its partners spent more than VNĐ20 billion ($860,000) on the production. 

“We spent several hundred million đồng on marketing and advertising our production in local media,” said the film’s director Phan Gia Nhật Linh.

“We hope our film will be shown soon in cinemas and meet the demands of Sơn’s Vietnamese and foreign fans,” he said. — VNS