Vietnam’s largest noodle bowl on display

Vietnam ’s largest bowl of “my Quang” (central region noodle dish) was displayed in the central city of Da Nang on March 29.

The bowl, which was 90 cm in diameter and 45 cm high and made of iron, is enough for 150 people.

It was made using 50 kg of noodles and 10 chickens, four litres of oil and 10 kg of vegetables.

Like “Pho” in Hanoi and beef rice noodle in Hue , “my Quang” is the signature dish of the central province of Quang Nam .

The record recognition makes contribution to promote the central region dishes to domestic and foreign tourists.
 
Little cultural ambassador
 
A 10-year-old girl sang a Vietnamese folk song at the Vietnam’s Got Talent television program. The special thing is that she is an Italian. This little girl is Chiara Falcone. Her father, Enzo Falcone, and her mother, Luu Minh Tam, are members of the non-governmental charitable organization Care the People of Italy.

Born in Vietnam, Chiara Falcone can speak Vietnamese, Italian and English fluently. Network Italia, a monthly magazine for the Italian community in Southeast Asia, had an article about Chiara Falcone as a special Italian child who has brought Vietnamese songs to Italian community and Italian songs to Vietnam. Chiara Falcone has also called for help for disadvantaged people in Vietnam. Network Italia voted her as a future cultural ambassador of Italy.

In addition to her love for singing, Chiara Falcone can play violin fairly well. She sings Vietnamese songs and “Bonjour Vietnam” beautifully, reported Thanh Nien newspaper.

Street music performance

Every Sunday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the foot of King Ly Thai To Monument by the Sword Lake in Hanoi, a music performance is held with the participation of hundreds of young people. No stage, no sound and lighting equipment, and no separation between performers and audience are the special things of this street music performance.

Nguyen Van Tien, a member of hocdan.com, a website for those who want to learn how to play musical instruments online, says that at first the music performance was held as offline meetings for the members to meet one another and practice playing guitar. As this event attracted quite a few music lovers, the members of the website decided to hold these street music performances weekly.

With the slogan “It’s quite simple,” all participants can play such instruments as the guitar, drum or harmonica and sing together. They can also learn how to sing and play music instruments from others. Most participants are students from colleges and universities in Hanoi. But local and foreign tourists and many Hanoians, old and young alike, also love to join these events.

A member tells Tien Phong newspaper that a foreign girl once asked them to sing a song as a gift for her boyfriend. Another time, an overseas Vietnamese old man asked the singers to sing the song “Nh mùa thu Hà Ni” (Reminiscence of Hanoi autumn) because he left Vietnam a long time ago and wanted to listen to songs about this capital city.

Blood bank by the Han River

Whenever patients need blood, the members of the Hand in Hand team are always ready to give their blood on the spot. They are former students at colleges and universities in the central coastal city of Danang. Thanks to their “mobile” blood donation, many lives have been saved.

Hand in Hand was established in 2006 by a group of students. After six years, this team has attracted hundreds of voluntary blood donators from almost all colleges and universities in Danang.

Besides giving blood, the team members have also carried out many social and charitable activities. Every evening, they teach unlucky children at Nguyen Dinh Chieu School. They also visit and present gifts to poor children in rural and remote areas, and flood victims in the central region.

Hand in Hand collects scraps at dormitories and residential areas and sells them, or organizes variety shows at schools and sells tickets to have enough money for its operation, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper.

HCM City responds to Earth Hour

Some of the city’s iconic structures such as Phu My Bridge, Thu Thiem Bridge, HCMC Opera House, HCMC People’s Committee and local museums will be in darkness from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday in response to Earth Hour 2012.

Apart from key works, the city’s government also calls on other units such as markets, supermarkets, trade centers, parks and other buildings to switch off the power for signboards and decorations for one hour.

Nguyen Van Ly, deputy general director of HCMC Electricity Corporation, said last year’s Earth Hour helped the city save 80,000 kWh of power. He added that the program is not only to cut down power usage but also to raise public awareness on power saving to help the environment and cope with climate change.

Last year, the program helped the country save 400,000 kWh.

Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off non-essential lights for one hour.
 
Writing, drawing contest inspired by British series

A writing and drawing contest based on the Mr Gum series by British author Andy Stanton was recently launched to appeal to the creative minds of Vietnamese children.

To celebrated the author's visit to Viet Nam in May, the contest is open to Vietnamese pupils aged between 7-17 who are interested in English literature in general, and the writings of Stanton in particular.

Entrants are required to write and illustrate a story about Mr Gum's potential adventures in Viet Nam.

Winners will receive prizes at the EUNIC Literature Festival on May 11 at the National Library in Ha Noi, where Stanton will introduce the seventh volume of the series entitled Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree.

Entries should be submitted to the British Council in Viet Nam by April 20.

The series of humorous stories was released in Viet Nam by Nha Nam Publishing House.

One among the series, You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum, won the Blue Peter Children's Book Award for the Most Fun Story with Pictures category.

British comics inspire writing, drawing contest
 
A writing and drawing contest based on the Mr Gum series by British author Andy Stanton was recently launched to appeal to the creative minds of Vietnamese children.

To celebrate the author's visit to Viet Nam in May, the contest is open to Vietnamese pupils aged between seven-17 who are interested in English literature in general, and the writings of Stanton in particular.

Entrants are required to write and illustrate a story about Mr Gum's potential adventures in Viet Nam.-VNS

Documentary film on Vietnam War showed in Spain

A documentary on the interference of Spain as a US ally in the Vietnam War was screened by the Spanish Historia television channel on March 28.  

Beginning filming in December 2010, the film features the experiences of Spanish people who took part in the war, namely General Antonio Velázquez who was at the time military medical lieutenant and Captain Ramón Gutiérrez de Terán (a nurse with the longest service time in the military medical group supporting southern Vietnam).

General Velázquez said that to avoid criticism for unilaterally waging war in Vietnam, the US asked some other countries to take part in invading Vietnam.

Thus, in 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Francisco Franco, general, dictator and ruler of Spain from 1936-1975, to send military troops to the country.

According to some documents, after a fierce argument between the Minister of War and Minister of Foreign Affairs about the US proposal, Gen. Franco decided to send the army medical corps, who would not be directly involved in the fighting.

The first group of medical soldiers, including 4 doctors, 7 nurses and 1 officer in charge of military supplies, arrived in Vietnam in 1966 and worked at Truong Cong Dinh hospital in former southern Go Vap district.

From 1966-1971 three other groups, with nearly 30 people, were also deployed to work at the hospital.

To avoid publicly supporting the US, Gen. Franco ordered the medics to keep their activities in confidence. The medical soldiers, who had completed their mission in 1971, were told to remain silent.

The secret of the Spanish intervention in Vietnam was unveiled by journalist Alejandro Ramírez with his book, published in 2005, which was the basis for the filmmakers to produce this documentary film.

The film is part of a special programme on Vietnam shown on Historia channel in March. Other films on the Vietnam War and the important role of the late president Ho Chi Minh in the struggle for Vietnam’s freedom and independence were also screened.

Sound Stuff Festival opens in Hanoi

More than 20 artists from the UK, Austria and Denmark are performing at the 5th Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival from March 28-April 14.  

This year’s festival will cooperate with the 2012 Hue Festival for a performance of Vietnamese and foreign artists on April 10.

In addition, a number of training courses will be conducted by international DJs in collaboration with Hanoi Cultural University in Hanoi and New Art Space in Hue.

Last year, it attracted more than 3,000 spectators for the performances of 13 international artists and 8 others from Vietnam.

New admission fees face criticisim

After Quang Ninh increased the prices of Ha Long Bay tours and Thua Thien-Hue increased entrance fees for cultural sites in Hue, other provinces frequented by tourists have also followed suit.

Ha Noi recently raised admission fees at tourism sites and ticket prices for water puppet shows.

The hikes have delivered a blow to tour operators, Cao Tri Dung, director of Vitours, said. He said entrance to Ha Noi's popular tourism sites were up by VND30,000 per person, while water puppet show ticket prices were 30 per cent higher.

Nguyen Minh Quyen, deputy director of the HCMC-based Ben Thanh Tourist, said his company earned little profit in the current economic situation but had to use part of it to deal with such sudden rises in admission fees. Since his company got payment from customers in advance, it was impossible to change prices subsequently, he explained.

Dr. of History to receive France’s National Order of Merit

Dr. Bui Tran Phuong, President of Ho Chi Minh City-based Hoa Sen University, will receive France’s medal of Knight of the National Order of Merit at the French Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City for her contribution to developing French language and culture.

Phuong gained a BA in history at the Paris – Sorbonne, and then received a degree of Doctor of History from the Lyon II University.

She has organized many exchanges for Hoa Sen students to meet local artists, as well as experts in many fields.

The medal ceremony will take place at the Consulate on March 30.

The National Order of Merit was established in 1963, under Charles de Gaulle. It was instated as a unification of a great many national orders across numerous fields, such as trade, tourism and the postal service.

The National Order of Merit replaced these many awards with one award, which recognizes distinguished individuals regardless of gender, nationality or background.

The National Order of Merit is lower than the Legion of Honor.

Go nuts at Ben Tre Festival!

Saigontourist Travel Service Co has begun tours to the Mekong Delta city of Ben Tre offering travellers a chance to attend the 3rd Coconut Festival to be held there from April 4 to 10.

The one-day Ben Tre Coconut Festival tour, leaving HCM City on April 5, costs VND850,000 (US$40), while two-day packages, departing on April 7 and 8, cost VND2,295,000.

Beside visits to old architectural sites and traditional craft villages in Ben Tre, visitors will also attend the festivities including installation exhibition The Coconut Road, the First Coconut Food Festival, and others.-

Bleachers built for 32,000 spectators to view fireworks

A 32,000-seat stage has been built along the Han River, opposite the city's main road of Bach Dang, in order to accommodate the crowd at the 5th International Fireworks Competition in Da Nang next month.

Around 22,700 tickets will be sold starting on Sunday.

The organising committee will also provide a boat on the Han River, where visitors can see the fireworks show on the nights of April 29 and 30.

The city has raised over VND32 billion (US$1.5 million) for the event from sponsors.

It's expected that the fireworks competition will host about 400,000 tourists.

Photo exhibition marks Da Nang Liberation Day

A photo exhibition featuring the development of the central city of Da Nang has opened to mark the city's 37th Liberation Day.

The exhibition, which will run through April 30, displays over 100 photos of the city since its liberation on March 29, 1975.

The event includes in the annual Da Nang International Fireworks Competition on April 29-30.

Vietnam’s Hard Rails wins Best Documentary at Thai film festival  

Vietnam's Hard Rails Across A Gentle River has won the Best Asean Documentary prize at the Salaya International Documentary Film Festival in Thailand.  

According to DOCLAB, the local studio that produced the film, the announcement was made last Sunday night, even though the news was not yet on the film festival’s website.

The 45-minute documentary tells the stories of people who live, work and play around a railroad bridge, among them a group of nude swimmers.

The film is actually a collection of four short documentaries directed by Tran Thi Anh Phuong, Do Van Hoang, Pham Thu Hang and Tran Thanh Hien. Hard Rails was produced by Nguyen Trinh Thi, Jamie Maxtone-Graham and DocLab, with funding from British Council, and support from Goethe Institute in Vietnam.

The festival was hosted by the Thai Film Archive March 20-25.

This year, there were seven entries in all, both feature-length and shorts, coming from Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia and Thailand.  

The jury included film critic Prawich Taeng-aksorn, filmmaker Pimpaka Towira and the Singapore National Museum's Zhang Wenjie.
Some of the Salaya films will be re-screened on March 31 and April 1, at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.

HCMC to hold Tourism Festival next month

Ho Chi Minh City’s 8th annual Tourism Festival will be organized by the HCMC Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport in collaboration with the city’s Tourism Association next month.

This years’ festival will gather 150 booths showcasing cuisine and tourism services such as tour operations, transportation, hotels and airlines.

The event will also include a series of cultural activities such as street parades, photo exhibitions and musical performances as well as fundraising for disadvantaged children around the city.

In addition, the 4th annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Fest will also take place within the framework of the tourism festival, adding more colors to the event.

The HCMC Tourism Festival will take place at 23/9 Park from April 12 to 15.

Last year it attracted around 5,000 visitors.

Northern film business losing ground to the south

The film industry in the north of Vietnam has been struggling to compete with a flood of southern-made productions.

The well-known director, Nguyen Huu Phan, said that the films made in the north of the country are being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of movies made in the south.

Out of 12 features competing in the 2011 Golden Kite Film Festival, 9 were southern productions.

In the television category, only two films produced in the north were considered, compared to 19 from the south. In addition, one of those, Giao Su Tran Thu Do or "Professor Tran Thu Do", was not included for regulatory reasons.

Do Thanh Hai, Director of Vietnam Television Film Production Centre (VFC), explained, “There are many more production companies in the south of this country. They have a great output because of the large demand for broadcast content in their region. The north has far fewer companies. VTV has a set timetable for broadcasting Vietnamese made-for-TV films. Hanoi Television has no open slots, while VTC broadcasts very few."

The last five years has been a boom time for film production in the south, with the establishment of many film production companies. In the north the industry has developed at a much slower pace, Hai said.

While northern filmmakers sit idle for lack of opportunities, actors and actresses have been lured south to find roles just to maintain their careers.

Hai said that this lack of activity in the film business has actually led to more demanding producers, as opposed to the south, where new talent is often open to new talent. In the south, he said, they often welcome amateurs, such as models, up and coming singers and beauty contest winners.

One obstacle, according to many, has been the lack of available capital for the industry.

Director Bui Tuan Dung, from Vietnam Feature Film Studios, said that even though his studio is able to produce feature films, there have been years where he and other directors have remained idle due to lack of investment. This, he said, made directors to turn to making films and series for television.

Dung, along with many of his colleagues, frequently coordinates with southern filmmakers, and often invites others from the north to join projects. But, he added, “Southern filmmakers dominate the market. This is especially evident during holiday seasons like Tet. While there are around 40 or 50 production houses active in HCM City daily, there are only about 5 in Hanoi," he said.

He also put partial blame on the work practices of people involved in the film industry in the north.

“I'm impressed with the work ethic and professionalism of those in the film industry in HCM City. While working there I would regularly get up at 5am and start work at 7am. Often, by the time I got there, other workers had already arrived, which made it possible to begin work right away. In Hanoi, it's usual for the talent to show up late, around 8am or 9am, which means we can't start shooting until 10am," he said.

Another reason for the discrepancy could be financial. One anonymous director commented that his studio gives priority to films that will do well in the south, where audiences spend more on going to the movies.

Despite the large number of films accepted in the Golden Kite Film Festival for 2011, there were only a few that were critically acclaimed.

Many of the films, such as “Long Ruoi”, “Sai Gon Yo” or “Khat Vong Thuong Luu” were not well received by the audience, who thought they lacked production value and featured amateurish talent.

Among the 12 films competing for last year's award, only “Hotboy noi loan”, directed by Vu Ngoc Dang did very well.

Several film critics have claimed that southern films focus to much on commercialism and lack artistic merit.

Hanoi to exhibit 'Black' works  

An exhibition of controverial works, titled “Black,”will be held at the Viet Art Center in Hanoi on March 25-3, according to a press release from the center on Thursday.  

The exhibition will show the works of five artists who have been featured in documentaries shown at the Hanoi Cinematheque recently: Tran Huu Nhat, Hoang Xuan Son, Tran Chi Thanh, Chu Viet Cuong and Project Black Artist leader Nguyen Minh Tan.

According to a press release from the center, the exhibition features works of five commited artists who are deemed so controversial that no gallery wants to exhibit them, though they’ve got something important to say.

Nguyen Minh Tan has gathered the artists together under the banner of Project Black.  

“Though they are outcasts of the local art scene, the group is determined to reach out to the wider community and say “Here we are. Reject us or accept us on our own terms. You don’t have to agree with us but at least we can talk,” says the press release.

Viet Art Center, 42 Yet Kieu Street, is located directly adjacent to the Vietnam University of Fine Arts.