With the end of the First Indochina War and the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, there were two Vietnamese film industries, with the Hanoi industry focusing on propaganda films and Saigon producing mostly war-society-themed or comedy films.
Hanoi's Vietnam Film Studio was established in 1956 and the Hanoi Film School opened in 1959. The first feature film produced in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was a nationalistic work directed by Nguyễn Hồng Nghị, Chung một Dòng sông (Together on the Same River). There was even an animated feature, Đáng đời Thằng cáo (A Just Punishment for the Fox) in 1960.
Documentaries and feature films from Hanoi attracted attention at film festivals in Eastern Europe at the time. The documentary Nước về Bắc Hưng Hải (Water Returns to Bắc Hưng Hải) won the Golden Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, and the 1963 feature by Phạm Kỳ Nam, Chị Tư Hậu (Sister Tư Hậu) won the Silver Award at Moscow. It starred lead actress Trà Giang.
But mostly the Hanoi-based industry focused on documenting the Vietnam War. Between 1965 and 1973, 463 newsreels, 307 documentaries and 141 scientific films were produced, in contrast to just 36 feature films and 27 cartoons.
Films during this period include the documentaries Du kích Củ Chi (Củ Chi Guerillas in 1967 and Lũy thép Vĩnh Linh (Vĩnh Linh Steel Rampart) in 1970), which included footage from battles. Other films, such as Đường ra phía trước (The Road to the Front) in 1969 and Những người săn thú trên núi Dak-sao (Hunters on Dak-sao Mountain) in 1971 were docu-dramas.
Feature films from this time include Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (1966), Đường về quê mẹ (Road Back to Mother), Truyện vợ chồng Anh Lực (The Story of Anh Lực and his Wife, in 1971, and Em bé Hà Nội (Young Girl from Hanoi) in 1974.
Saigon produced numerous documentary and public information films, as well as feature films. The most well known feature film in the late 1950s was Chúng Tôi Muốn Sống(We Want To Live), a realistic depiction of the bloody land reform campaign in North Vietnam under Communist-dominated Vietminh. Some mid-1960s black-and-white features dealt with war themes, with actors such as Đoàn Châu Mậu and La Thoại Tân. Some later popular color features revolved around the theme of family or personal tragedy in a war torn society, such as Người Tình Không Chân Dung(Faceless Love) starring Kiều Chinh, Xa Lộ Không Đèn(Dark Highway) starring Thanh Nga, Chiếc Bóng Bên Đường(Roadside Shadow) starring Kim Cương and Thành Được. Comedy movies were usually released around Tet, the Vietnamese New Year; most notable was Triệu Phú Bất Đắc Dĩ(The Reluctant Millionaire) starring the well loved comedian Thanh Việt.
Joseph Mankiewicz's adaptation of Graham Greene's The Quiet American was filmed in and around Saigon in 1957. American actor Marshall Thompson directed and starred in A Yank in Vietnam, or Year of the Tiger in 1964.