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The event attracted the participation of a wide range of entries from Russia, Vietnam, Georgia, Spain, the US and Germany.
Professor Sergey Lazaruk from the Russian National Movies University, who is also head of the organizing board, said that “Dung Dot” did not dwell on fierce fighting but refer to human relations. The jury specially showed their interest in Minh Huong’s professional skills in the film.
During the festival, cinemas in Russia were crowded with people. Especially, many young people stood up and burst into applause for the Vietnamese film.
Da Lat hosts annual flower fest
Main streets in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat will come alive with colourful flower displays and art programmes as the annual flower festival begins this weekend.
Domestic and imported flowers will be displayed at the city centre, Xuan Huong Lake and the city flower park from this Friday to Tuesday, January 3.
The festival will feature fire cracker shows, street art and dance performances, a science conference on Da Lat flowers and a painting contest.
An open golf tournament will be held at Da Lat Golf Course for local golf fans and tourists on Saturday.
Lang Biang Mountain on Sunday will be the venue for sports events such as a mountain climbing competition and a hang-gliding show along with a series of gong performances by local ensembles.
A wine festival night will also be held next Tuesday (January 3rd) to promote Da Lat wines and other wines from around the world.
The estimated budget for the festival is VND17 billion (US$810,000), of which VND7 billion is from the State budget while the rest has come from individual sponsors.
According to local authorities, hotels in the city have been fully booked out ahead of the festival while 90 per cent of hostels are also booked out for the event.
There are 612 hotels and guest houses in the city offering accommodations for up to 30,000 tourists. The city hosts 19 three to five-star hotels, 154 one to two-star hotels and various private guest houses.
Local authorities have permitted a price rise for rooms of 20 to 30 per cent for the event.
Local rock tour concludes in Ho Chi Minh City
More than 20,000 fans converged in the 7 Military Zone Stadium in Tan Binh District (Ho Chi Minh City) for the last show of the countrywide tour Rock Storm on Friday night.
Putting on Vietnam’s famous young rock bands from across the country, the show has toured through Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hue, Da Nang, Dong Nai and Can Tho from early November.
The two-and-a-half-hour rock concert features the most popular hits by five young bands comprising KOP, I-Teu, Black Infinity, Tiny Monster and Ngu Cung.
A VND 364 million (US$ 17,235) proceed from ticket sales will be sent to the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Operation Smile Vietnam to provide free treatment to children and adults suffering from cleft lips and cleft palates.
The tour earned a total of VND 1.4 billion (US$70,000) after 7 shows.
Private war museum marks fourth birthday
The private War Memorabilia Museum in Nam Dinh which features a collection of more than 1,000 historical items celebrated its fourth birthday on Thursday.
Vu Dinh Luu, its owner is a veteran of the American war who used to fight in the 81-day battle in Quang Tri Citadel, one of the bloodiest of the war.
Luu said the idea to establish an exhibition place that can recapture Vietnam’s important historical period and keep youthful memories of him and his comrades alive came when he visited the old battlefield in Quang Trinh in April 2007.
“When I saw what we had carried with us in those days again: our backpacks, rifles, our hats etc. I was moved to tears.
“They were so familiar to anyone who used to be a soldier. The thought of having a museum came then and the first items in my collection actually belonged to my old comrades.”
He started collecting since then and has travelled extensively to different regions in search of the war’s memorabilia from veterans or their families.
Four months after the Quang Tri trip, he bought a nearby land from a neighbor who had moved and built his 40 square meter exhibition place. By the time the museum was officially opened on December 22, 2007, he had gathered around 400 items for the collection.
For years now, every time the old man hears of a place which has valuable memorabilia, he grabs his backpack, jump on his bike and drives from Nam Dinh to the mountainous Cao Bang, the coastal Quang Ninh or the central highland Tay Nguyen.
Now his collection boasts more than 1,000 items, many of which have their own stories that embody the loss and sorrow of the war.
Among them is a glass jar given to him by the Vietnam’s Heroic Mother Ta Thi Uon, who lost three sons in the war.
“It used to be full of green beans, as the men told their mother to put in one bean each day she waited for them to come back. They never did.
“The beans were all rotten when she gave it to me, so I had to take them out and replace with lucky paper stars instead, which represent all of her hope and expectation,” Luu said movingly.
An amateur collector as he is, Luu works with his collection with a rare professionalism and devotion that is more typical of someone who gets paid to do the job.
For every item, no matter how small or trivial it is, from a piece of cloth to a small bottle, he always has three set of documents.
“One of these will be sent to the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, another to the Central Department of Heritage and the last is kept here,” Luu shared.
Every week, his small museum receives foreign tourists, veterans and students majoring in museum studies who come to do research for their thesis.
He said amusingly that young students were the ones who always gave him a hard time “as they like to touch this and that. But I am so happy they can have a chance to learn about their country’s history through my work.”
Hanoi circus to perform belly dance
The Central Circus in Hanoi will hold a special show on New Year Eve featuring a combination of belly dance and acrobatics.
Themed “Happy New Year 2012, a Mystical Night,” the show will be held on December 31 and feature professional belly dancers from LifeArt Studio and artists from the Vietnam Circus Federation.
By incorporating belly dance and circus, show organizers hope to create a new art form.
The Central Circus is located at 67-68 Tran Nhan Tong, Dong Da District, Hanoi.
Spring flower festival arouses love for sea and island
Spring Flower Festival 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City and the spring flower markets will be themed on the Truong Sa Islands with the imitation of its sovereignty landmark made from flowers and fossil shells collected from the archipelago.
The HCMC Park and Green Tree Company announced the theme of the Spring Flower Festival. As scheduled, the HCMC Spring Flower Festival 2012 will be held at the International Square in District 3 and Tao Dan Park in District 1 from January 18 to 28, 2012.
The annual festival will feature around 8,000 exhibits of bonsai trees, ornamental plants, orchids, cacti, apricots and peach blossoms, ornamental birds and fishes, fruit arrangements and rock gardens contributed by hundreds of local and foreign artisans from various flower clubs.
Visitors will have a chance to enjoy other cultural activities as well such as, don ca tai tu performance (southern amateur traditional music), folk games and a painting and calligraphy exhibition.
The annual festival is a traditional, cultural activity in Ho Chi Minh City. It is held during Lunar New Year and attracts thousands of visitors to the city.
As planned, spring flower markets for Tet will open from January 16-22. The main and large-scale flower markets will open at the 23/9 (September 23rd) Park and Le Van Tam Park in District 1 as well as the Gia Dinh Park in Go Vap District.
37 more flower markets are expected to open in districts across the city, including district 5,6,7,8,10,11 and Go Vap, Tan Phu, Thu Duc, Cu Chi and Binh Tan.
In addition, the annual Phu My Hung spring flower festival will be held in the Phu My Hung Urban Area in District 7 on January 16-21.
The much awaited annual flower display on Nguyen Hue Flower Street titled “Vietnam, my country” during the coming Tet Lunar New Year will open from January 20 until January 26 (December 28 - January 4 on the lunar calendar).
Nguyen Hue Flower Street will be decorated with small scene displays of the Vietnamese countryside, such as lakes, fields, the peaceful villages, the beautiful seashores and the houses on Spratly Islands.
Noted music composer to have live show
Local famous music composer Nguyen Anh 9’s live show will take place on December 29 in Hanoi to celebrate his 50-year music career in Hanoi.
The show, called Nua the ky am nhac (Music of half-century) will gather local well-known singers such as Duc Long, My Linh, Thuy Dung and Hong Hanh.
The guest singers will be accompanied on the piano by Nguyen Anh 9 in some of his songs.
The live show is a birthday gift from Nguyen Anh 9’s son, named Nguyen Quang, who is also a songwriter. Nguyen Anh 9's birthday is on January 1.
Quang will also feature his father in a piano duet and is the sound director for his father's show.
An orchestra playing with a classical, modern style will create a live soundtrack for the show.
The show will be held at the Au Co Performing Art Center at 8 Huynh Thuc Khang, Hanoi.
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