16th European–Vietnam Documentary Film Festival

   Running at the same time as Hanoi, audiences in Ho Chi Minh City get nine days of documentary in the middle of town, with entry entirely free. The cinema sits next to the Bến Thành area, which keeps it easy to reach from anywhere central.

   The festival gathers 25 films: 11 international titles representing nine European countries and delegations, nine Vietnamese films produced by the National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio, and five by independent young Vietnamese authors. This year brings one first-time member, Norway, alongside Austria, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Finland and Belgium.

   The European centrepiece comes from Jean-Jacques Annaud, the director behind «The Lover». France brings «Notre-Dame Burns», which reconstructs the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame de Paris and works through the questions it left behind. Made in 2022, it runs close to two hours and is the longest work in the programme, which is unusual for documentary. It blends documentary with fiction, and it won the César for visual effects in 2023.

   Other international titles worth noting:

• — «Sara and Her Many Lives» — nominated for the Guldbagge for Best Original Score and awarded the Gemma Firsova prize for best film on social philosophy
• — «Foothold» — winner of the Belgian Magritte award in 2026 and of prizes at the Brussels International Film Festival
• — «Many Kids, a Monkey and a Castle» by Gustavo Salmerón, who spent 14 years filming his mother and his own family life
• — «Lessons Amid the Fire», «Father», «Nowhere to Hide» and «Masks»

   On the Vietnamese side, the studio's nine films include «Giáo sư Hoàng Xuân Sính», «Chuyện bên sông hoài phố», «Trở về quê nội», «Chuyện tuổi già», «Những người kể chuyện phố cổ Hà Nội», «Giữ mãi màu xanh», «Đạm Phương nữ sử», «7 quãng nhân sinh Điềm Phùng Thị» and «Giấy dó: Cuộc hành trình trở về». The five independent works are «Những thiên thần áo trắng», «Nhà yêu nước Phó Đức Chính», «Mạc hậu», «Người cất mả» and «Phòng thu bí mật».

   The festival is organised by the National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio together with EUNIC, the network of European cultural institutes and embassies, which handles selection and submission of the European titles. This year the Wallonie-Bruxelles Delegation of Belgium chairs EUNIC Vietnam and supports international coordination. The Ho Chi Minh City programme runs in parallel with Hanoi and carries the same slate of films.

   It suits filmmakers, film students, and viewers who want a clearer sense of the society around them and of European countries. After 16 editions it has become a familiar cultural meeting point.

   Tickets are free and handed out on site, so for the award-winning titles it is worth arriving a little ahead of the screening.