Vietnamese Film Department Attempts Control Of Local Films On Youtube
On June 20, the Vietnamese Film Department officially sent documents to the Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the disposal of the film Apartment Number 69 (original title: Căn hộ số 69), which released online on Youtube. This latest action make people think that the Vietnamese Film Department wants to take control of films on Youtube too.
Apartment Number 69 is a short sitcom series revolving around three young men and women living together in an apartment. The film is labeled 18 + - only suitable for viewers over the age of 18 - because there are many hot scenes, included the main actor's hobby of masturbation (in public, too) or girls eating bananas. So far only the first episode of the series has been released and has attracted nearly 3 million hits in just over half of June.
Ms. Ly Phuong Dung, Head of Art, Film Department says: "The film Apartment Number 69 has violated the law. The producers had labeled the film '18+' by themselves, while there are only two types of film classification in Vietnam's Law on Cinematography: Allow for Everyone, or Forbidden to Children under 16."
Ms. Phuong Dung continues: "Apartment Number 69 has violated Clause 1, Article 51 for releasing movies. Producers of this movie has released it without permission from the state management agencies or the head of broadcast television stations, radio - TV, according to the Law on Cinematography". For your information, a Vietnamese film that wants to be released need the approval of the Central Council and the National Film.
The violations of Apartment Number 69 are being considered by Vietnamese Film Department. Currently, in addition, Film Department also sent documents to the Department A83, A87 Ministry of Public Security Bureau, the Central Propaganda Department for the treatment.
The producer of Apartment Number 69 said that he and his crew have not received any documents from the Film Department or the investigation office. He said: "I upload movies to YouTube not to 'evade' censorship. My crew are merely passionate about film and want to share to everyone an entertaining product for non-profit purposes. There are many groups of people with the same goals with us on the Internet. They also make movies, share online and I acknowledge the fact that I follow after other groups, and exploitation of content in my film also is not something pioneering", he added.
He added: "Youtube's user management is very strict. That's why my film is labeled 18+. However, the users can cheat about their real age and watch this movie. But it is the responsibility of parents to manage their children how they use the internet. Youtube also has a strictly content control policies. All unappreciated scenes will be removed. When I make films, I have to share that understanding. If my films have sensitive image exceeds the permissible level, the admins of Youtube will handle, but not to wait until the action of Vietnamese Film Department."
Ong Hong, a young audience in Hanoi, express: "Apartment Number 69 may be not a really good movie, but it still doesn't deserve the treatment like that. I think showing movies online is a very normal thing now. It's for those who do not have the movie business purposes but merely entertainment, why do they have take that film to censorship committee. Maybe they just have an idea, go make a movie and share it on the Internet. Nowadays with smartphones technology, anyone can make a daily movie and share it with other people. Does everyone have to bring it to Vietnamese Film Department for censorship too?"
More news about this case will be updated. After the ban of Cho Lon, this kind of unreasonable action becomes a normal thing for the Film Department. But do you think that censorship on Youtube is possible?
You can watch the first episode of it below (English subtitles included):
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