In 1956 the Việt Nam Film Studio (Xưởng phim Việt Nam, fore-runner of today's Việt Nam Feature Film Studio) was established in Hà Nội and a fledgling documentary film industry began to develop. Another important milestone in the history of Vietnamese cinema was the opening in 1959 of the Hà Nội Film School (Trường Điện ảnh Hà Nội, now part of the Hà Nội University of Theatre and Cinema). That same year saw the release of independent Việt Nam's first feature film, a nationalistic work directed by Nguyễn Hồng Nghị entitled Chung một Dòng sông ('Together on the Same River'), followed in 1960 by the first cartoon, Đáng đời Thằng cáo ('A Just Punishment for the Fox'). Soon after this the Việt Nam Film Studio was split into three organisations - the Việt Nam Feature Film Studio (Hãng phim Việt Nam), the National Documentary and Scientific Film Production Studio (Hãng phim Tài liệu và Khoa học Trung Ương) and the Việt Nam Animated Film Company (Hãng phim Hoạt họa Việt Nam).

By this time Vietnamese cinema had begun to attract critical attention at East European film festivals. The documentary film Nước về Bắc Hưng Hải ('Water Returns to Bắc Hưng Hải') won the Golden Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, and in 1963 Phạm Kỳ Nam's feature film Chị Tư Hậu ('Sister Tư Hậu') won the Silver Award at the same festival for its significance in movie arts and the brilliant performance of its lead actress, Trà Giang.

During the American war many graduates of the new Hà Nội Film School served their apprenticeship on the battlefield, with the production of a succession of public information films - between 1965 and 1973, 463 newsreels, 307 documentaries and 141 scientific films were produced, in contrast to just 36 feature films and 27 cartoons. Many of the documentary films produced during this period, such as Trần Nhu's Du kích Củ Chi ('Củ Chi Guerillas', 1967) and Ngọc Quỳnh's Lũy thép Vĩnh Linh ('Vĩnh Linh Steel Rampart', 1970), comprised powerful footage of real battles, while others, such as Hồng Sến's Đường ra phía trước ('The Road to the Front', 1969) or Trần Thế Đan's Những người săn thú trên núi Dak-sao ('Hunters on Dak-sao Mountain', 1971) took the form of drama-documentaries. During this period several Vietnamese documentary films won international awards at the Moscow and Leipzig Film Festivals, whilst at home Vietnamese film artists finally got their own professional association with the establishment in 1969 of the Việt Nam Film Association (Hội Điện ảnh Việt Nam).

Throughout this period feature films continued to be produced periodically, including notably Bùi Đình Hạc's Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (1966) and Đường về quê mẹ ('Road Back to Mother', 1971), Trần Vũ's Truyện vợ chồng Anh Lực ('The Story of Anh Lực and his Wife', 1971) and, on the eve of reunification, Hải Ninh's acclaimed Em bé Hà Nội ('Young Girl from Hà Nội', 1974).