Southern forest land causes controversy, the Cinema Department gets involved, a university forces students, points will be deducted if they don't watch?

The film Southern Forest Land is one of the Vietnamese cinema works that has received public attention. As soon as it was screened, the film received many mixed reviews because of some details related to history.

Responding to this issue, Director of the Cinema Department Vi Kien Thanh said that under the direction of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Appraisal Council... has re-evaluated the film Dat Southern forest.

After that, the Department also invited the producers and crew of Southern Forest Land to dialogue and exchange some content related to the film.

Director of the Cinema Department Vi Kien Thanh said that the film Southern Forest Land is considered an elaborate cinematic work, with the main sound of patriotism, anti-feudalism, and imperialism in the Southern region. .

The film is inspired by the novel of the same name by writer Doan Gioi and the famous television work Dat Phuong Nam, produced in 1997 by director Nguyen Vinh Son. Director Vincent Son is also a consultant for this film.

The film has editing similarities with the TV series Dat Phuong Nam, set in the 1920s-1930s, while the novel Dat Phuong Nam by writer Doan Gioi is dated 1945. The reason for the change is because The film wants to describe in part one, little An wandering through many places, many environments, many guilds as well as many different insurgent groups.

Mr. Vi Kien Thanh commented that this is a feature film, with fictional characters and does not specify the exact time the story takes place. Historical elements and characters in the novel are the inspiration to build the film story.

"The film does not promote or praise any group, it only praises the patriotism against foreign invaders of the Southern people during that period including Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer... ", Department Chief Vi Kien Thanh stated.

In the film, there are activities and dialogues that mention "The Meaning of Harmony" and "Thien Dia Hoi" which are groups gathered by a number of working people living mainly in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Long Xuyen - completely unrelated to the movement of the same name led by Zhu Hong Deng in China.

"Thien Dia Hoi" as well as "Nghia Doan" were only used by patriotic people in Cochinchina at that time to operate independently in Vietnam.

During the meeting and dialogue, the producer representative proactively proposed film editing options. Accordingly, the producer will remove the names and dialogues "Thien Dia Hoi" and "Nghia Hoai Hoi" and replace them with other names not related to foreign groups.

In addition, adjust the line "The film is inspired by the novel "Southern Forest Land" by writer Doan Gioi" to the beginning of the film to more clearly clarify the change in timeline in the literary work, following closely than the TV version.

"The producer and film crew will urgently edit this content to avoid incorrect associations that affect the film's content. After editing, it will be submitted to the Cinema Department before the official release in theaters from January 20. 10", said Director Vi Kien Thanh.

In another development, on social networks there is a stir that Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology bought 1,000 tickets for the movie Dat Rung Phuong Nam and asked students to go see it. If any student goes to watch, they will receive 2 training points. Students who do not go will have points deducted.

Talking to the press, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that the purchase of 1,000 movie tickets for Southern Forest Land is part of the learning activity for the Cinema Appreciation module, Faculty of Communications. And design.

According to the plan, on October 20, the Faculty of Communication and Design will organize for students majoring in Multimedia Communications to watch this movie at the cinema. This is a learning activity that helps students have real-life experience of theater space through a new movie.

According to Mr. Quoc Anh, the school has an applied training orientation and regularly has practical experience programs in the curriculum.

"Specifically, in September 2023, we also gave students the experience of watching the movie 'Past lives' or previously watching the movie 'Face Off 6: Ticket to Destiny' and interacting with the film crew of Ly Hai.

In addition, students majoring in Multimedia Communications can also bring their graduation project film to theaters for screening."

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Regarding the information that students who do not go to see the movie Southern Forest Land will have training points deducted, while students who go to see the movie will have points added, Mr. Quoc Anh affirmed that this is not accurate.

Watching movies and experiencing theater space is a student's right in the study program, students do not have to pay for tickets, and the school is not required to participate.

Students who do not participate in watching the movie will lose their benefits but will not have their study or training points affected. On the other hand, this activity is only for Communication students and when students go to the movies, lecturers will give them professional instructions.

Regarding the purchase of 1,000 tickets for a controversial movie for students, the Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology affirmed that the school would not comment on this.

According to the school representative, this is a new film and has been invested in, so the school creates conditions for students to watch and get a feel for the media field.

Tran Thanh received a disappointing ending, invested in 2 films but went empty-handed at the Vietnam Film Festival, the head of the judges clearly stated the reason. Bảo Nam13:23:22 27/11/2023The film Southern Forest Land, directed by Nguyen Quang Dung, premiered from October 13 to November 25, reaching nearly 140 billion VND in revenue (according to Box Office Vietnam), but still had nothing at the Vietnam Film Festival.