An animated film based on a historical theme entitled ‘Binh Ngo Dai Chien’ (The Pacification of the Wu) was released last December. It is the final product of the crowd-funded film project named ‘Viet Su Kieu Hung’ (Pride in Vietnamese History) by young filmmakers from the Duoc Moi team.
‘Binh Ngo Dai Chien’ recalls the Tot Dong- Chuc Dong battle of in 1426 when the Lam Son troops, under the command of national hero Le Loi, defeated the Ming invaders from the north. After the battle, Dại Viet gained independence, and Le Loi became king in 1428.
After its cinema debut, the film was broadcast on Duoc Moi’s YouTube channel and has attracted approximately 3.5 million views thus far.
The making of the 60 minute-film resulted from the joint efforts of all team members during 15 hardworking months and 13 script changes.
‘Binh Ngo Dai Chien’ is likely to be the biggest animated historical film (fundraised) so far as it has received VND1.3 billion, donated by 1,600 people, exceeding the production team’s initial target of VND1 billion.
Although the funding is just about enough to cover members’ accommodation, the participating film makers were willing to join the team without being paid ,simply following their passion for film-making and their aspiration to introduce Vietnamese history to young audiences.
Their enthusiasm received great support from prestigious artists including Khanh Hoang, Duc Thinh, and Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc.
The first film of the series was ‘Tu Chien Thanh Da Bang’ (Battle at Da Bang). It was released in 2018 and has drawn much interest from the audience.
After the project was completed, the participants returned to their normal jobs as illustrators, scriptwriters and consultants for historical and cultural projects.
The success of the ‘Viet Su Kieu Hung’ project proved that community efforts can help independent artists further promote their creativity to create valuable products which can benefit the community.
However, the practice of crowdfunding in Vietnam hides certain risks such as if the project team cannot raise enough money for the project, they must give up or carry on in a way so as “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, which can result in a less effective project.
Although young independent artists are in need of a stable source of financial support, statistics have shown that the call for investment for private art projects still faces several difficulties as the artists are young and have not yet established themselves in art circles. At the same time, businesses have not shown much interest and enthusiasm for artistic projects.
It is necessary to establish connections and promote exchange among artists and investors so that they can find a common voice in implementing art projects. Their cooperation will surely help create authentic artistic products which can promote the creativity of the artists while benefiting both the businesses and sponsors.
Source: Nhan Dan Online
