Phillip Noyce to judge film contest in Vietnam

Hollywood director Phillip Noyce will be on the jury of the international 48 Hour Film Project to be held later this year in Vietnam.

The creator of films like “The Quiet American” has been to Vietnam several times in recent years, including in May when he released his autobiography, Backroads To Hollywood.

The global contest requires filmmakers to write, shoot, edit, and complete a short movie within 48 hours.

Each contestant will have to work with a character, a prop, a line of dialogue, and a genre assigned by the organizers.

More than 40 teams of young, aspiring filmmakers from Ho Chi Minh City produced many promising works when it was held for the first time in the city last year. 

Ross Steward, producer of the 48 Hour Film Project in Vietnam, said that he hoped for more at this year’s contest and that it was an ideal opportunity for Vietnamese filmmakers to have a distinguished figure like Noyce judge their works.

The chance was important not only to the filmmakers themselves but also to the rapidly developing Vietnamese film industry, he said.

“A Good Day To Die,” last year’s winning entry, was chosen to be screened at the Cannes International Festival last May.

“This is proof that Vietnam’s film industry has young rising stars,” Steward said.
The contest will take place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City respectively in September and October.

Instituted in the US in 2001 by Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, the 48 Hour Film Project attracted nearly 3,500 shorts in 84 major cities last year.

City book café pays tribute to A tale of Kieu

Ho Chi Minh City-based book café Nha Nam Thu Quan is holding an exhibition on Truyen Kieu (A tale of Kieu), an epic 18th century poem widely regarded as the most significant work in Vietnamese literature.

Written by national hero Nguyen Du (1766–1820), the poem narrates the life, trials, and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family.

Eighty eight old print versions of A tale of Kieu, some dating back to the 19th century, in many languages ranging from Chinese to French will be on display.

They will include 40 old copies in Vietnamese.

There will also be 48 other related publications including research works, theatre scripts, and picture books inspired by and written about the epic.

Some rare pieces to be on show that have sparked excitement among antiquarians include a French translation by Abel Des Michels and published in 1884-1885 by Ernest Leroux.

Published in three volumes together with the original Nom version, it belongs to a Vietnamese private collector who got it from a collection in Vienna, Austria.

Another highlight of the exhibition will be Tap van hoa ky niem Nguyen Du, a picture book by renowned 20th century painters like To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Gia Tri, and Pham Ngoc Hau inspired by the epic.

It was printed in 1942.

More than 10 private collectors from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and Bac Ninh and researchers like Nguyen Quang Tuan and the critic Khong Duc have contributed to the exhibition.

Duong Thanh Hoai, deputy head of Nha Nam Publishers -- which owns the café -- said the exhibition is meant to promote the reading culture and pay tribute to great printed works.

The exhibition at 43 Ho Van Hue, Phu Nhuan District, which opened earlier this month and will remain open until July 22.

Gov’t to pump cash to rescue history magazine

The Hue provincial government will save Hue Xua va Nay (Hue – The Past and the Present), a prestigious history magazine that is due to be closed down soon due to lack of financial resources, a senior official promised Tuesday.

Nguyen Van Cao, head of the People’s Committee, said it will provide money to publish the remaining issues of this year and financially assist the magazine after that.

However, a long term solution for staff and funding should be sorted out by Hue Xua va Nay and the Thua Thien – Hue Association of Historical Sciences - its managing board.

Last week, the magazine’s editor-in-chief asked the Committee for the publication suspension at the end of this year.

Launched in 1992, the magazine, with one edition every two months, has become one of Vietnam’s most prestigious history magazines and published 105 editions, each of which is 100 to 150 pages.

With staffs made up of an editor-in-chief and 3 administrators and technicians, the magazine is housed inside Phu Xuan University.

According to Le Van Thuyen, Secretary General of the association, the provincial People’s Committee provides the magazine with a total VND50-105million (US$2500-5250) per year which is only enough to pay for the publication of 6 editions.

The association itself has covered the rest including staff’s salaries, royalties and administrative fees.

Hanoi museum puts on city life exhibition

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi is putting on an exhibition documenting the multi-faceted aspects of contemporary urban life in Vietnamese big cities.

The Tales in the City: Community Voices exhibit will showcase photographs, objects and numbers depicting a new urban sensation in Hip hop – my life corner, a dead-end city job drawing poor women from rural areas in Scrap Dealers- Villagers in the City, and poor students who earn their living by tutoring in The Silent Teachers.

Three short documentaries, each lasting 15 – 20 minutes on the subjects will also be screened and accompany traditional museum displays.

Sponsored by the Ford Foundation under its “Community-based communication in Vietnam: Stories with a subjective voice” program, the exhibition and video-making apply a bottom-up and community based technique to approach a selected group in the society.

Wendy Erd, Ford Foundation’s specialist said the technique helped to shift the story-telling focus from producers to the community.

“Those media products are more attractive with a new kind of language and can create a deeper humane connection,” she shared.

Tales in the City: Community Voices will last until September 9 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Nguyen Van Huyen, Cau Giay, Hanoi.

Tickets cost VND 25,000 each for adults, VND 3,000 for children and VND 5,000 for students.
       
Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has announced that the Cat Tien Biosphere Reserve was renamed the Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve.

UNESCO’s recognition of the Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve showed that the Management Board of Dong Nai Nature Reserve and Cultural Site had actively and effectively co-ordinated with the National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme in this connection.

The Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve which is home to 11 ethnic groups and is a model for sustainable and harmonious development between human beings and nature.

Art programme to honour war invalids and revolutionary martyrs

A special programme will take place in the Hanoi Opera House on the evening of July 21 and broadcast live on TV channels VTV2 and VTC5 to demonstrate gratitude toward revolutionary martyrs, war invalids and ‘heroic mothers’.

The programme, co-organized by the Labour and Social Affairs magazine and Vietnam Television (VTV), will involve famous singers and artists such as Quang Tho, Thanh Hien, Trong Tan and Anh Tho.

The songs in the programme will revive an arduous but magnificent period of the Vietnamese nation.

Audience at the programme will have a chance to meet outstanding war invalids and sick soldiers who took part in the patriotic wars.

Vietnam wins second prize at the Int’l Mozart Competition in Thailand

Two Vietnamese pianists have won second prize at the International Mozart Competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

The competition attracted 19 young contestants from Thailand, China and Vietnam. Two contestants from Thailand and China won first prize while Dang Viet Ha and Nguyen Linh Uyen from Vietnam secured second prize.

Organizer Mongkhol Chayasirisobhol said that the Vietnamese contestants are talented, especially Dang Viet Ha, the third-year student at the National University of Singapore where many Thai students are studying. Although the competition has not attracted as many contestants as the piano competition, it was successful.

The contest helped participants exchange experiences and strengthen relations among neighbouring countries, Mongkhol said.