The effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to push the event back from its scheduled date of November 4–8.

The biannual Hanoi International Film Festival was founded in 2010 to "honor outstanding cinematographic works to expand the domestic movie market to international audiences," according to VnExpress. Originally focused only on Asian films, in 2016 it expanded to include entries from around the world.

Given the global scope of the event, Hanoi's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which runs the event, anticipated welcoming attendees and participants from countries all over the globe. With Vietnam's borders currently closed and the pandemic still raging in many regions, the event was postponed until 2022.

This sixth iteration of the event was to focus on world cinema, the UK in particular, and contemporary Vietnamese films, in addition to featuring a script-writing camp, exhibitions and seminars under the broad theme of "Cinematography – Integration – Sustainable Development." There has been no word on if there will be any changes to the program, or the precise dates of the film festival next year. 

Many consider the event an important tool for developing the country's domestic film production industry. "We are showing artistic films in the festival. Our mission is to build and develop a film culture in Vietnam. To encourage the audiences to see more art films, the screenings are open to the public for free,” said Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the festival's organizing committee regarding the previous festival. 

[Photo via Top Sao]