Exotissimo Travel Blog

The world has traditionally paid scant attention to Vietnamese cinema, and no wonder. In a country with few cinemas and a government which has maintained strict control of the industry, films have mainly been either state-funded propaganda, or foreign-made war flicks.

But that is all set to change!  In recent years, as Vietnam’s film industry has made efforts to modernize and move beyond the government-backed propaganda films, contemporary Vietnamese filmmakers have gained a wider audience with films such as Buffalo Boy and Bar Girls. In 1998, Tony Bui’s stunning masterpiece Ba mùa (Three Seasons), which is set in Saigon, won several prizes at the international Sundance Film Festival.

Then, last year, in an effort to promote homemade movies, the Vietnamese government passed new laws opening cinema doors to private firms. The move was welcomed by the industry and may help spur on a “New Vietnam Realism” in film to reflect the massive renewal and modernization that is sweeping the country.

Ethnic Vietnamese director Othello Khanh’s Sài Gòn nhật thực (Saigon Eclipse, 2007)is one of the first productions to take advantage of the new regulations and is, he says, an allegory of the Vietnamese film industry itself. It is hoped that the feature, which is largely in English and set in present-day Vietnam, will appeal to an international audience and make a splash both at home and overseas.

Seeing many charming scenes of Vietnam countryside through films is not enough. Go and see the real Vietnam yourself. Try Mekong Delta and Cambodia Getaway- 3 Days/2 Nights Tour. This is a cruise trip in Vietnam that will bring you to explore a diversity of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, including fishermen life on the delta, Sampan tour into Xeo Quit, colourful Cai Rang floating market, the way of life of the Cham minority with their colorful traditional woven textiles, the Can Tho’s pleasant countryside via biking.