Vietnamese Filmmakers Turn AI From an Emergency Fix Into a Production Tool as the Cinema Department Sets Out Its Stance

Vietnamese filmmakers are moving artificial intelligence from an emergency patch to a regular production tool, the Vietnam News Agency reported in a feature published by VietnamPlus on November 8. AI first made headlines in local cinema as a fix: in 2025 the team behind “Chot Don” (Deal!) swapped out the female lead’s image to get the film into cinemas, and in September the crew of “Mai No Mot Loi Tam Biet” (Chrysalis) used AI and CGI to replace an actress caught up in a scandal.

Now crews are choosing AI from the start. In September, TFS film studio and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) unveiled “Bai San” (The Hunting Ground), billed as having fully AI-produced visuals. In early October, director Nguyen Quang Dung’s animated feature “The Gioi Tran Trui” (The Naked World) drew attention for using AI in production, and “Ho Linh Trang Si: Bi An Mo Vua Dinh” (Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor), released for the September 2 holiday, also carries an AI imprint.

Nguyen Trong Khoa, head of the Digital Film Production Faculty at RMIT University Vietnam, described AI as a budget tool for visual development, previsualisation, animation, visual effects and other resource-heavy stages. It lets Vietnamese filmmakers test bold ideas, build worlds, create creatures and simulate action before committing to costly production, he said, and the benefits extend to advertising, brand storytelling, short films, music videos, pitch trailers and online series.

What it means in practice

Vietnamese Filmmakers Turn AI From an Emergency Fix Into a Production Tool as the Cinema Department Sets Out Its Stance — contextual photo

Dang Tran Cuong, director of the Cinema Department, said the answer is not to throttle the technology but to channel it, so that AI expands human creativity without replacing human responsibility. Cost cuts and faster workflows are welcome, he said, but creators and distributors still own the final product, and films made traditionally or with AI must meet legal rules on content, classification, copyright and related rights, especially where children and minors are at risk. Khoa added that success should be judged not by how much AI a film uses but by whether it improves storytelling and creates lasting opportunities for Vietnamese filmmakers.

The industry’s stance echoes a wider effort to set rules for higher-stakes AI, from Vietnam’s 46-system high-risk AI list to a draft data security law that would make AI developers vet their training data. What to watch is whether the Cinema Department issues specific guidance on disclosing AI use to audiences, how copyright questions over AI-generated performers and visuals are settled, and whether more studios release fully AI-made features next year.