The Vice President of the Ford Foundation visited and worked at the School.

The reception and working session with Ms. Alison R. Bernstein – Vice President of the Ford Foundation – was held on the afternoon of May 14, 2008. Attending the session were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Gia Lam, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Ba Nam, along with the heads of programs funded by the Ford Foundation and several lecturers and students of the Film Project.

Associate Professor Pham Gia Lam highly appreciated the role of the Ford Foundation in the University's international projects. From 1999 to the present, the Ford Foundation has funded 5 projects for the University with a total budget of over 1.3 million USD (accounting for nearly 60% of the funding the University has received from international projects).

During the meeting, both sides focused on discussing the activities of the film project. According to Mr. Tran Hinh (project leader), leveraging the strengths of the university in social sciences and humanities, the film project currently focuses primarily on screenwriting and film criticism. With the support of the Ford Foundation, the establishment of the film project both meets the needs of society and creates job opportunities for many students.

Currently, the film project is actively preparing, developing curricula, training programs, and a teaching staff so that the School can establish undergraduate and postgraduate majors in film (expected in 2010).

At the end of the meeting, in addition to appreciating and affirming the project's creativity, Ms. Bernstein also expressed her willingness to continue supporting the project and hoped that the school's projects would soon develop independently.