(VOVworld)- The Vietnam Film Institute (VFI) received more than 200 original film and documentary reels from the Germany-Vietnam Friendship Association in Hanoi on November 18.

Residents of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, welcomes liberation soldiers from North Vietnam in 1975 (Photo: VNA)

According to the association’s Chairman Gunter Giesenfeld, the collection, mostly shot during the 1960s and 1970s, gives insights into Vietnam. It depicted a nation at war, its efforts to rebuild post-war life, alongside several local anti-war movements back then.

Some of the films have never been screened publicly.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai said the donation constitutes the cooperation and effective assistance of the two countries’ profession associations and affirms the solid bilateral relations.

VFI Director Dao Quoc Hung said it was the first time such large-scale handover has taken place. Vietnam has already stored a few similar film reels, however, with poorer quality.

The VFI is keeping almost 90,000 reels at its two studios in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Germany-Vietnam Friendship Association was founded in 1976. It has worked to collect and preserve many films about Vietnam and transfer them to the Vietnamese side.-