Many films facing public criticism for their alleged poor quality have submitted to compete at the 18th National Film Festival this year.

The film Lửa Phật (Monk on fire) faced criticism for alcohol advertisements

The five-day event is scheduled to start on October 11 in Ha Long City.

The organising board will begin receiving applications, all competing for three types of Lotus Awards: features, documentary and educational films and animation. Awards will be granted to movies from each category for best director, actor and writer.

At a press conference held on August 27, Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Cinematography Department, and head of the festival’s organising board, said both private and state-funded film studios were eager to send applications for the festival. To date, 13 feature films have been submitted and seven others are in the process of applying.

At the same time, many of these films have already faced public criticism, including "Five fairies in the house" (Năm nàng tiên trong ngôi nhà), "Princess & Cinderella" (Hoàng tử và lọ lem), "Passion" (Đam mê), "Hot Sand" (Cát nóng) and "Love Puzzle" (Cưới ngay kẻo lỡ).

“The legend marker”, by director Bui Tuan Dung, accepted

Mrs. Ngo Phuong Lan said, “My personal opinion about these movies is subjective. So I say, let them enter the contest. It will only add diversity to the event. Some people may have rated these films as 'disasters' but others might find value in them." She went on to say that, in her opinion, there has been no real masterpiece submitted this year.

One film that has faced criticism for advertisements for alcohol as well as the psychological state of certain characters was Lửa Phật (Monk on fire). Lan said that the department will review this film before making a decision about acceptance to the festival.

The event will also include cinema-related forums.