Ho Chi Minh City's film students are getting their moment in the spotlight. The Youth Cinema Festival 2026 — Youth CineFest for short — launched on September 29 at the HCM City University of Theatre and Cinematography, and best of all for anyone in town this week, the screenings are free and open until October 2.
The festival doubles as a 50th anniversary celebration for the university, which was founded in 1976, and lands at a fitting time: Ho Chi Minh City was recently named a UNESCO Creative City of Film. UNESCO's Vietnam office and the French Institute in Vietnam are backing the event, which carries the theme "Unframing – Expanding" — a nod to giving young filmmakers room to stretch creatively.
The numbers behind it are impressive for a student showcase. Organisers received 135 short films and documentaries and whittled them down to 31 competitors, drawn not just from the host university but from Fulbright University Vietnam, RMIT Vietnam, Hoa Sen, FPT and several other local institutions. Prizes go to the best films plus an audience choice award, with individual honours for directing, screenwriting, cinematography and acting.
There's also a business side. A "Short Film Project Market" lets 12 selected teams pitch works in progress — shorts, mini-series, even micro-dramas — with three winners set to receive production funding. Visitors with an interest in the industry can sit in on networking sessions and conversations with directors Trần Thanh Huy and Trần Nhân Kiên, both school alumni who've made names for themselves in Vietnamese cinema.
The screening programme mixes French and Vietnamese picks. On the French side: Justine Triet's Two Ships, Lola and the Sound Piano by Augusto Zanovello, and Royal Hunt by Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret. Vietnamese independent features include The City I Love by Dương Huy, Enjoying the Hardships by Trần Nhựt Long, and Bright Horizon by Lan Nguyên.
Screenings run at the university itself and at Mega GS Cao Thắng, with the awards and closing ceremony at the school on October 2. If you're visiting Ho Chi Minh City in these few days, it's a rare chance to catch emerging Vietnamese talent before it goes mainstream — and to see the city's film scene from the inside rather than the tourist brochure angle.
For cinephiles travelling in Vietnam, events like this are a good reason to build a few extra days into a Ho Chi Minh City stop. Between the screenings, the student energy and the French-Vietnamese programming, it offers a snapshot of where the country's cinema is heading. — Vietnam News Life
