“Happy Vietnam” is a photo and video contest on the topic of human rights in Vietnam organized annually by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and held for the first time in 2023. This is a popular contest for authors, both professional and non-professional, Vietnamese and foreigners, both domestic and foreign, to participate.

In 2025, the Contest will be held for the third time, launched on a national scale to attract the participation of a large number of authors across the country.

In order for the Contest to be organized seriously, transparently, fairly and objectively, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announces the Contest Rules as follows:

I. PURPOSE, REQUIREMENTS

1. Purpose

- Discover and honor meaningful moments and stories about all aspects of Vietnam's political, economic, cultural and social life through photos and videos submitted by domestic and international authors, in order to vividly affirm Vietnam's achievements in the field of human rights.

- Mobilize the combined strength of all classes of people in the country, the Vietnamese community abroad and international friends in communication work, promoting the image of the country and Vietnamese people to the world to affirm to the world that Vietnam is a peaceful, beautiful country, dynamically developing and a happy country.

2. Requirements

- Entries must be legal and not infringe copyright. Authors submitting entries must be fully responsible for the copyright of their works.

- Contest entries must have high promotional value, meet the criteria of artistic quality, from content to form of expression must not violate Vietnamese customs and laws.

- Encourage the application of modern information and communication technology to create good communication effects for the public.

II. CONTESTANTS

- Contestants: Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and over.

- Members of the Organizing Committee, Jury, Secretariat, and Communications Committee are not allowed to participate in the contest.

III. CONTEST CATEGORIES

The contest consists of 02 categories: photo and video.

IV. CRITERIA OF ENTRANCE WORKS

1. General criteria for content

- Introduce and promote the image of Vietnam, its people, cultural and natural values ​​across the country; arouse national pride and aspirations for development among all classes of people to join hands in building Vietnam to become increasingly prosperous, wealthy and happy.

- Reflects truthfully and vividly the development achievements in all aspects of Vietnam's political, economic, cultural and social life, especially in the process of innovation, development and international integration.

- Convey valuable knowledge, attract strong public interest and have wide spread domestically and internationally.

- Do not violate the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws and the Contest's regulations; be consistent with national customs, traditions and culture.

2. Criteria for photo categories

- Contest photos must be single photos or photo sets in digital format, photo files must be in jpg format. The shortest dimension must be at least 3,000 pixels.

- Each author can submit an unlimited number of entries (both single photos and photo series). The author's name is taken from the name on the citizen identification card or passport.

+ Single photo: each photo is a work of art.

+ Photo series: each photo series is considered a work, consisting of a minimum of 05 photos and a maximum of 10 photos. The Organizing Committee encourages photo series to have a presentation layout and an introduction to the content of the photo series (maximum 150 words). The author must number the photo series in order.

+ In case the author submits both single and series photos, the single photo must not be the same as the photo in the series.

- The participating works must be created using realistic methods. No photos that are cut, added, removed or distorted from reality are accepted (except for panorama photos).

- Photos must not have borders or display information such as: names, watermarks, locations, etc.

3. Criteria for video categories

- Contest videos must be in digital format, video files must be in mp4 format. Video image quality must be at least Full HD or higher. Each video must be no longer than 5 minutes. File size must not exceed 500MB.

- Each author can submit an unlimited number of entries. The name of the author and the representative of the group of authors must be taken from the name on the citizen identification card or passport.

- Contest videos include genres: reports, documentaries, short videos, skits... recorded with any device that supports video recording function.

- The content and plot are clear, consistent with the message and theme of the contest. The video is an original media product, copyrighted by the author, not copied from any source without permission for copyright of images, sounds, dialogues, etc.

- Characters appearing in the video must have the consent of the character or that character's guardian.

4. Time of creation

- The work was created from January 1, 2023 to the time of receipt.

- The photo entries have never won any awards or been selected for exhibition at regional, national or international competitions organized and coordinated by the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.

5. Copyright

- The author is responsible before the law for copyright of the submitted work.

- The Organizing Committee is not responsible for copyright disputes and related rights. The Organizing Committee will revoke the award if it discovers any violation of copyright or related rights according to the provisions of law.

- If necessary, the Organizing Committee will request the author to submit the original file to verify the information.

- The Organizing Committee of the Contest is allowed to use the entries for free to serve the promotion of the Contest and foreign propaganda at home and abroad without having to pay any costs.

V. PRIZE STRUCTURE

Each contest category (photo and video) has the following prizes and prize values:

- 01 First Prize: 70,000,000 VND

- 02 Second Prizes: 20,000,000 VND

- 03 Third Prizes: 10,000,000 VND

- 10 Consolation prizes: 5,000,000 VND

- 01 prize for Most voted work: 5,000,000 VND

The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony (broadcast live). The Organizing Committee will deduct personal income tax according to current regulations.

The award structure may change, based on the quality of the works in each category. In addition, the Organizing Committee will award certificates of merit to the authors who win First, Second, Third Prizes and the locality with the most works participating in the contest; the locality with the most works winning First Prizes, etc.

The authors who win the First, Second, Third and Encouragement Prizes in the photo category will be awarded points for their titles and will be considered for the annual Excellent Photography Awards; the works that win prizes and are selected for exhibition will be considered for creative support according to the regulations of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists. For authors who are not yet members of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists, each work that wins prizes or is selected for exhibition will be awarded points when considering membership according to the Association's Regulations.

VI. STEERING AGENCY, ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZING UNIT, JUDGES BOARD, SECRETARIAT, COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

1. Steering Body

- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

- Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists;

- Vietnam Television Station.

2. Organizing Committee

2.1. The Organizing Committee of the annual Competition is established by the Leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and is responsible for organizing the Competition in accordance with current procedures and regulations.

2.2. The functions and tasks of the Organizing Committee are decided by the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

2.3. The Organizing Committee consists of:

- Leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Head of the Organizing Committee;

- Leader of the Department of Grassroots Information and External Information, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Permanent Deputy Head;

- Leader of Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists - Deputy Head of the Board;

- Leader of Vietnam Television Station - Deputy Head of Department;

- Leader of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security - Member;

- Leader of the Press and Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Member;

- Leader of the Department of Foreign Information and International Cooperation, Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission - Member;

- Leader of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Member;

- Leader of the Center for International Journalism and Media Cooperation, Department of Grassroots Information and Foreign Information, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Member;

- Leaders of relevant departments under the Department of Grassroots Information and Foreign Information and the Center for International Press and Media Cooperation, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Member.

3. Implementing unit

The implementing unit is the Center for International Press and Media Cooperation, Department of Grassroots Information and Foreign Information, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism with the following responsibilities:

- Coordinate with relevant units to help the Organizing Committee deploy, widely disseminate, and guide the implementation of the Competition Rules.

- Be the focal point for receiving entries.

- Mobilize legal funding sources from organizations and individuals to support the award review process and organize the Award Ceremony.

- Responsible for facilities and human resources serving the organization of the Contest.

4. Board of Judges

The Jury is established by the Organizing Committee based on the proposal of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists and the organizing unit.

The Jury includes the Preliminary Round Jury and the Final Round Jury, operating according to the Working Regulations approved by the Organizing Committee.

5. Secretariat

The Secretariat is established by the Organizing Committee based on the proposal of the organizing unit.

The Secretariat is responsible for assisting the Organizing Committee and the Jury in performing their tasks according to their functions and duties.

6. Communications Department

The Communications Committee is established by the Organizing Committee based on the proposal of the implementing unit.

The Communications Department is responsible for assisting the Organizing Committee in carrying out communications and promotion work for the Contest.

VII. JUDGING RULES

Step 1: Preliminary round

Based on the collection of works submitted by authors, the Preliminary Round Jury will select works that meet the criteria in Section IV of the Competition Rules.

Step 2: Final round

The works entering the Final Round will be judged and selected by the Final Round Jury, the results will be submitted to the Organizing Committee for consideration and signing of the award recognition decision.

VIII. RESOLVING COMPLAINTS, ACCUSATIONS AND HANDLING VIOLATIONS

1. Individuals have the right to complain about the results of the Contest. The complaint must clearly state the name, address, reason for the complaint and send it to the Organizing Unit. The Organizing Unit is responsible for reviewing and responding to the complaint, reporting the results of the complaint resolution to the Organizing Committee. Complaints without a clear name, address or anonymous or impersonated will not be considered.

2. The Organizing Committee will revoke the award and notify the competent authorities to handle the following cases in accordance with the law:

- The participating works violate the Press Law, Publishing Law, Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Law, relevant State laws and the Rules of this Contest.

- Taking advantage of the awarded prize to commit illegal acts.

- The revocation of the award will be announced publicly in the media.

- If you are a member of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists: The Organizing Committee will cancel all participating works and will not be considered for titles, excellence and creative support in 2025.

- If you are not a member of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists: The Organizing Committee will cancel all entries and will not consider admitting you as a member if you meet the admission requirements in 2025.

IX. FORM OF RECEIVING ENTRIES

Authors and groups of authors submit their entries at: https://happy.vietnam.vn./ .

MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM