Director Dao Ba Son said that from the 19th Vietnam Film Festival the organising board will be selecting films before allowing them to compete at the event.

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

The 19th Vietnam Film Festival is scheduled to take place in HCM City in 2015, added Director Son, Head of the Feature Film category at the award ceremony.

According to the director, at least one third of the films attending this year’s festival are of 'good quality', with those made by non-state commercially run studios accounting for many of them. He hailed the quality of private films such as Đường đua (the Race), Thiên mệnh anh hùng (Natural Destiny Hero), Lửa Phật (Monk on fire) and Bí mật thảm đỏ (Secrets of red carpet).

He admitted, however, that a large number of other commercial films have been deemed disasters. Their producers only think of profits, he said, and to not invest properly. These kinds of films cannot be successful even though, he added that a comedy films do attract large audiences.

The head of the Vietnam Film Festival organising board, Ngo Phuong Lan, said the board may be changing regulations for the 19th festival, as the number of films registered is expected to increase gradually.

At previous festivals, producers were allowed to send their films to the organisers, but at the next festival may include different formats.

Films submitted to compete in the 18th National Film Festival this year faced public criticism for their poor quality, 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), but still competed at this year’s festival.

The 18th Vietnam Film Festival kicks off on October 14 in Ha Long city in the northern province of Quang Ninh, with screenings of 139 cinematic works from 44 studios across the country.