Revolution, Independence Day to be marked by music shows

Several series of concerts featuring revolutionary and romantic music will begin in HCM City this week to mark the 66th anniversary of the August 1945 Revolution and Independence Day on September 2.

One of them, Mau Co Thang 8 (Flag of August) will feature "red" songs like Tieng Goi Thanh Nien (Calling on the Youth) and Len Dang (Setting off) by composers Luu Huu Phuoc and Huynh Van Tieng, respectively.

Singers Hoang Vinh Phuoc, The Vy, and Duy Linh will perform along with the 4 Tenor, Bel Canto, and Suc Song (Vitality) Club groups at the concert on Saturday at the HCM City Youth Culture House, Pham Ngoc Thach Street. Similar concerts will be held on the last Saturday of each month.

HCM Television will begin a programme called Con Mai Voi Thoi Gian (Immortal) featuring romantic songs composed at the beginning of the 20th century on the second and the fourth Wednesday of each month. To be held at the HCM City Conservatory, the first show will be held next Wednesday.

Top singers like Cam Van, Thanh Thuy, and Duc Tuan will render some immortal romantic songs like Suoi Mo (Dream Stream) by Van Cao, Dem Dong (Winter Night) by Nguyen Van Thuong, and Hon Vong Phu (Waiting for the Husband) by Le Thuong.

The conservatory is situated at 112 Nguyen Du, District 1.

Vietbooks to publish list of top 100 markets, destinations

The Viet Nam Book of Records (Vietbooks) is drafting top-100 lists of prominent markets, market days and destinations in Viet Nam.

Le Tran Truong An, Vietbooks' general director, said the work would preserve the traditional cultural values of Viet Nam.

The lists are made based on a survey of 63 provincial sports and tourism departments, trade and industry departments, cultural departments and tourism agents across the country.

The Vietnamese record-maker community, which consists of 1,200 members, is also taking part in the work.

The official lists will be announced at a meeting of record-makers nationwide, which will be held in HCM City in November.

Last month, Vietbooks also launched a search for 100 natural specialities and 100 processed specialities of Viet Nam.

Vietbooks will publish the book at the end of the year.

Dang Thuy Tram diary to be published in Russia

The Russian version of “Dang Thuy Tram diary” will be introduced to Russian readers in mid-2012.

A contract regarding the translation and publication of the book, which was a best-seller in Vietnam in recent years, was signed in Moscow on Wednesday.

The “Thang Long-Moscow Garment” Club will sponsor the whole process of translation, marketing and printing of the diary while the Orient Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences will manage the procedural papers.

The two sides agreed that this project is not for profit, but will be sent as gifts and presents.

Tram was a civilian doctor who worked as a battlefield surgeon during the Vietnam war. She died at the age of 26 in Duc Pho, the central province of Quang Ngai .

Tram’s diary, which chronicled the last two years of her life, has been first published in Vietnam in 2005. It has been translated into 20 foreign languages thus far.

A film about doctor Tram by Vietnamese director Dang Nhat Minh entitled, Dung Dot “Don’t burn”, was released in 2009.

Vietnamese films offer gay people no joy

The 2004 film “Nhung co gai chan dai” (The long-legged girls) was among the first modern Vietnamese movies to broach the taboo subject of homosexuality.

The film portrays Long, a gay man, as being in love with his best friend Hoang, a heterosexual and the main character. Long’s is only a minor character, but it is well etched and shown as having subtle emotions and deep feelings.

The film’s young director Vu Ngoc Dang set the bar high in portraying gay people, but unfortunately it has been dragged down by his successors who are content to make caricatures out of them.

After “Gai nhay” (Bar girls) came in 2003, movies and TV dramas have generally portrayed gay men as effeminate characters with heavy make-up, theatrical gestures, and flamboyant costumes to add to the films’ comic effect.

The blockbuster – it earned VND12 billion (US$576,900) at the box office and marked the comeback of Vietnamese films after a long stagnant period -- starred comedian Anh Vu as a gay pimp whose performance, though being undeniably entertaining, faced criticism from the homosexual community for being over the top.

“Lo lem he pho” (Street Cinderella), a 2004 romantic comedy that was a sequel to “Bargirls,” had comedian Minh Nhi again as a gay pimp who wiggles his way through the film with a squeaky voice, blonde bob cut, sparkling jewelry, and wacky clothes.

The 2010 hit “De Mai Tinh” by Vietnamese-American filmmaker Charlie Nguyen earned a huge fan following for supporting actor Thai Hoa who plays a funny gay millionaire. But the “girlish and exaggerated” formula was very much in evidence.

Jerry Quan, an administrator of the gay and lesbian forum The Gioi Thu 3 (The Third World), says not all gay men want to dress and behave like women as shown in films.

“Gay men can be very manly, not all of us opt for cakey make-up and flamboyant clothes. The way gay people are portrayed in films has tainted our image.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Asia, films have evolved massively from using gay characters merely as comic props.

Take for instance Chen Kaige’s 1994 film “Farewell my concubine” which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and a Golden Palm at Cannes.

It explores the love and friendship between two Chinese Opera actors in the broader social and political context of China during the mid-20th century, moving generations of cinema buffs.

Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee won three Oscars for his 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain,” which tells about the love between two cowboys.

The same year Korean director Lee Joon Jk’s made the period drama “The King and the Clown” capturing the love and sacrifice of two traditional acrobats during feudal times.

In 2007 Chookiat Sakveerakul of Thailand made the romantic “The Love of Siam” which earned a plethora of awards.

The humane work delves into the struggles and societal challenges the gay community still faces in traditional societies like Thailand.

Clearly, Vietnamese filmmakers have a long way to go to catch up.

Jerry Quan is anguished at what goes on meanwhile: “I don’t know if it is [because of] the director, writer, or actors themselves, but often scenes depicting us are very offensive and grotesque, and give viewers very wrong ideas about us.”

2900-meter lantern parade in Phan Thiet

Authorities in Phan Thiet City have mapped out detailed plans for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

Offering a healthy and happy playground for kids, the program will take place from September 10-12 with a lantern parade, lantern making contest and festivities in residential areas.

The lantern parade, which will be 2900-meters long, will be attended by students from elementary and high schools and will take place at 6 p.m. on September 10 at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square area. Students will parade through Nguyen Tat Thanh, Ton Duc Thang, Thu Khoa Huan, Tran Hung Dao, Nguye Du, Phan Thiet intersection, Tran Phu and Le Hong Phong Bridge.

The festival will also have music and dance shows performed by the kids.
 
Vietnamese snapper’s second prize at U.K. contest
 
Tran Viet Van, a successful photographer of Lao Dong newspaper, won second prize in the People and Portrait category in an annual photo contest Art Around the World held in the U.K. with his work Cau Nguyen (Pray), reports Thanh Nien.

He also received honor certificates for the collection ‘Meditation’ and two photos Khoanh Khac Quyet Dinh (Decisive moment) and Cau chuyen cat so 9 (Sand Story No.9) at the International Photography Awards in the U.S.

Last month, his entry Bau vat nhan van song (Living human cultural treasure) which honors old artisans of ca tru (royal singing), won first prize at the photo contest ‘Vietnam’s world heritages in 2011’ held in Vietnam.

Last August, he won seven Honorable Mention Awards at the International Photography Awards sponsored by the Lucie Foundation in the U.S. Van’s awarded works include five photo sets in the portrait, photo story, art and people categories. They are named Tuong tran thoi binh (General in peacetime), Vi tuong tran lich lam (Gentle General), The gioi ao va thuc (Virtual and real world) (two sets) and Bi an Tay Nguyen (Mystery of Central Highlands).

Before that, Van took the public voting title for Sand Story 4 in the environment category at the second International Online Digital Photo Competition held in Cyprus.

Last year, he won fourth prize for Mua Thu Hoach (Harvest Season) at the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards and a Merit Award for Mua Xuan Dang Toi (Here Comes the Spring).
 
PV