Hanoi – Vietnam’s local film and TV industry received a boost as the Government ruled that cinemas and television should show more local films and serials. The recent Decree 96 makes it mandatory for cinemas to screen original Vietnamese language films at least 20% of the time – and 30% of all films and serials shown on TV must be locally made. The ruling was made after a careful study of the film industry and screening of imported films in neighboring countries by the Ministry of Culture and Information and the National Assembly’s Culture and Education Commission. The department’s statistics show Vietnam produced 31 films and imported 168 in the last two years. Deputy Director of the Cinematography Department, Nguyen Thi Hong Thai, said domestic films had been dominating cinemas in big cities during Tet, the Lunar New Year, for the last few years. But TV series made by local studios and shown on national channels were greatly appreciated by viewers.