The project incubator, launched in 2025 under the DANAFF Talents initiative, is designed to discover, train and develop new cinematic talent through two categories including Asian art-house film projects and Vietnamese genre film projects.
Organizers said the Asian art-house film projects this year would expand to include separate tracks for filmmakers from Southeast Asian Nations and non-ASEAN countries. Selected projects will receive intensive mentorship, pitch before an international jury and gain access to networks of producers, distributors and industry experts.
ASEAN projects selected at the Da Nang program will also join further training sessions in Thailand and France, while being connected with European co-producers through the Cinema du Monde fund operated by France’s National Center for Cinema (CNC), a public administrative institution created by the law of October 25, 1946.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese genre film project category will return with a new format, featuring an intensive script development course lasting around two weeks in Da Nang in June and July 2026. Eight feature film projects will be chosen for development under the guidance of international experts, with support from Columbia University in the United States.
This year’s faculty and advisory team includes producer and professor Jack Lechner, who worked on “The Fog of War” and “Blue Valentine”; Vietnamese-American director and screenwriter Tony Bui, known for “Three Seasons”; and Singaporean director Anthony Chen, winner of the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for “Ilo Ilo”.
The Asian art-house project mentors also include producer Lai Weijie, Playtime executive director Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, director Duong Dieu Linh, producers Claire Lajoumard and Vincent Wang, script consultant Gualberto Ferrari and pitching expert Stefano Tealdi.
Festival organizers said the presence of international industry figures would help DANAFF Talents strengthen its role as a regional hub for connecting, developing and bringing new cinematic voices to the screen.
