African singer to enterain

The public is invited to a music performance by vocalist Alif Naaba from Burkina Faso on Saturday, March 21, at L'Espace.

His emotional and positive music is a mixture of folk and traditional.

The winner of the 2012 Visa pour la Creation (Passport to Creation) held by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Institute, Naaba has recorded four albums.

The singer received a Gold Kunde award for the Best Artist in 2014 at the Victoires de la Musique awards in Burkina Faso.

Naaba's Ha Noi performance will start at 8pm. Ticket costs VND160,000 with a 50 per cent discount for members of L'Espace and students. Tickets are available at L'Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street.

Ha Noi hosts workshop on independent films

Independent filmmaker Nguyen Hoang Diep acts as a host at the workshop.

Young directors who want to specialise in making long feature films have attended a workshop on independent films held here from today (March 11) to March 17.

The participants of the workshop, who were selected by noted independent filmmaker Nguyen Hoang Diep in the 2013-2015 period, will be trained in making movie files, planning movie productions, methods of co-operating with partners in producing movies, and internet movie distribution, besides being given information about film festivals across the world.

Besides Diep, the other local and foreign experts who will interact with the participants include film director Marcus Manh Cuong Vu, Hollywood film producer Jon Kuyper and lawyer Roft Larsson.

The course is a joint project of Diep Vblock Media, the Danish Embassy, the French Embassy and the Motion Picture Association of America.

On the first two days, the participants will go on excursions, and on the remaining days they will have classes at the L'Espace, 24, Trang Tien Street.

Diep, born in 1982, is a lecturer at Ha Noi Theatre and Cinema College. Her film entitled Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping in Middle of Nowhere) won the Special Jury Award for Feature Film at the third Ha Noi International Film Festival last November. It has been screened in Italy, Belgium and Slovakia, as well as Denmark, Canada and the United States, besides South Korea, India and Chinese Taiwan, and has won several prizes, including a special jury award at the 36th Film Festival of the Three Continents in France last December.

Lacquer worshop seeks students

A cultural gift store known as Hang Xanh (Green Street) will start a series of creative workshops on traditional Vietnamese lacquer on Saturday.

The series will enable people, even beginners, to make traditional Vietnamese crafts using sustainable materials. Various lacquer techniques suitable for accessories and trays will be taught at the workshops.

The training will b e held from 8.30am to 11.30am at store at 36, Lane 106, Le Thanh Nghi Street, Hai Ba Trung District.

The first workshop will focus on mosaic egg-shell lacquer. Others will involve gold and silver leaf and Vietnamese carved lacquerwork.

The fee for the workshops is VND250,000.

To register, go to http://goo.gl/forms/UoSnTfRfKf. For further information, email contact@hangxanh.vn or call 0123-9568114 (English), 0914788389 (Vietnamese).

Walkers to tour old buildings

Friends of Vietnam Heritage will host a city walk titled Hanoi Art Deco next Tuesday, March 17.

The French-language tour will start at 9.30am and last until 12pm. It will start at the corner of Nguyen Du and Tran Binh Trong streets, on the pavement by Lake Thien Quang.

It will continue north through an area where there are private houses built during the 40s-50s by Vietnamese architects from the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts d'Indochine.

Some of the old buildings have been perfectly well-kept, other are partly covered by additions of all sorts. Most of them reflect the innovation of the period with creations inspired by the modernist movement and featuring Indochinese motifs.

Cost: VND70,000. Limit: eight people. Registration: Julie at julietorreton.hanoi@gmail.com

Observatory goes for underground music

HeartBeat Saigon will present an underground music show featuring Italian DJ Marco Effe at the Observatory bar on March 20.

Effe began to compose his own music in 2007. His first output Wet June EP in 2008 gave him immediate recognition and success.

The show will include British music producer Nic Ford who has played electric and underground music for 15 years, and two artists from Heart Beat Saigon, B.A.X from Viet Nam and Chris Wolter from Germany.

The performance will start at 9pm at 5 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4.

Artist to hold photography workshop

A photography workshop will be held at Saigon Outcast on March 19 led by Vietnamese-French artist Truc-Anh.

Applicants can send five to 10 photos before March 13 for a personal review. Instructors will provide technical tips, critics and references to help amateurs develop their own style.

Truc-Anh, who learned art in France, Belgium and Switzerland, has been featured at several international art fairs and festivals, such as Art Paris, Solo Art Project in Switzerland and the New Delhi Art Festival in India. His work has been presented at solo shows in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Viet Nam.

Admission fee for applicants is VND300,000, and for students VND200,000.

The workshop will take place from 6-8pm at 188/1 Nguyen Van Huong Street in District 1.

Superblood to rock HCM City

Superblood, a four-member rock band from Japan, will present a free concert at Saigon Ranger on March 20 as part of a Southeast Asia Tour.

The band consists of guitarist Okahiro, Takamasa "Mad" Ouchi, vocalist RYU, and producer Ryo Agawa.

The show will promote the band's debut album Rescue Me released in November. Their performance will be supported by local artists, including Still Saigon, L.C.L, Rotten Red Machine and Another Think.

It will begin at 8pm at 5/7 Nguyen Sieu Street in District 1.