The nonverbal language of cinematography

Vietnamese film director Viet Linh, famous for many award-winning films, had a friendly meeting Friday with Ho Chi Minh City movie buffs and press at Hoa Sen University at 93 Cao Thang, District 3.

At the event titled “The language of cinematography,” the director said she wished to share her knowledge of how to enjoy a movie through its expressive language with the participants.

The meeting opened with the screening of Cannes 2001 winner, “The son’s room,” an Italian movie.

Using some scenes in the movie and also some from the Vietnamese movies, the director began to explain the use and meaning of the cinematographic language.

“The language of cinematography is not verbal and can be appreciated by heart. It only comes where no dialogue exists,” she said.

According to Linh, the cinematographic language of a movie is the meaning concealed behind every detail which is deliberately selected and created by the director.

The language can be expressed through sounds as well as pictures by camera angle and light installation.

“It can take 2 days for you to learn the basics of cinematography language but 2 or even 20 years to know how to apply it to your movies,” she added.

The director told her fans that she first took the inspiration for entering the world of cinematography from the world-renowned German silent movie “The Battleship Potemkin” directed by Sergej Eisenstein in 1925.

The cinematographic language can be used as a spice, adding to the flavor of the movie and making it delicious, but an abuse of it could confuse the audiences and ruin their enjoyment of the movie, she warned.

The director shared the participants’ concerns about contemporary Vietnamese movie industry.

Describing Vietnamese TV film series as “disastrous,” she said they have illogical plots and do not reflect anything about Vietnamese culture.

Agreeing with the director, Thanh Huong, a student from HCMC University of Theater and Cinema said she felt sad about recent Vietnamese movies since they gave her nothing but boredom.

In addition, Linh said a Vietnamese movie at present usually prefers to force the audiences to use their heads to understand it, not to feel it with their hearts.

Linh also introduced to the audience some of the books of which she was editor, such as “Dao Chơi Vuon Dien Anh (A walk around the Cinematography garden)”, “Hai Mươi Bai Hoc Dien Anh (20 Cinematographic Lessons)” and “Chuyen Minh Chuyen Nguoi (My story and the Others’)”.

Dang Chuong, a participant thought attending the meeting was like taking a short course in film for him.

“I come here as a learner who wants to know more about filmmaking. I think a meeting like this is very helpful since it can guide people who want to understand the beauty of art like me”, he said.

Director Viet Linh was born in 1952 in Saigon. She first started her career in 1971 as a montage, and then as editor, writer and finally director of many works which won numerous awards at domestic and international film festivals.

 Among her well-known works are Ganh Xiec Rong (The Itinerant Circus), which won the highest prize at Vietnam’s national film festival Golden Lotus in 1988, and Me Thao Thoi vang bong (Glorious Time in Me Thao hamlet), which won the Golden Rose Prize at the Italian Bergamo Film Festival in 2003.

She now lives and works in France.

Nha Trang to cooperate with Uzbekistan in tourism

The world-famous beach destination Nha Trang in VietnamKhanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Center yesterday held a meeting to connect local tourism industry with that of Uzbekistan, in which Nha Trang is introduced as a key destination for the latter’s tourists.

The meeting was joined by 50 local tour operators and five Uzbek travel agencies.

Speaking at the meeting, Luyen Manh Cuong, the center’s director, said the Uzbek partners would open tour packages to bring the Central Asian tourists to Nha Trang this winter.

“They will also operate charter flights between Uzbekistan’s capital Tasken and Khanh Hoa’s Cam Rang Airport,” he added.

Ashrafi Aziz, deputy director of Uzbekistan-based Aznur Travel, said his first tourists would arrive in Vietnam next year.

In related news on tourism, Hanoi-based Bhaya Cruise Co has announced it would add two more five-star cruises to the cruise ships on Ha Long Bay.

Tran Thanh Nam, chairman of the company’s member council, told Tuoi Tre that the two Au Co cruises were designed by the French architect Anne Droussie and built at Hai Phong-based Z189 Shipyard.

He added that the cruises cost totally VND180 billion (US$9 million), each of which would be equipped with 32 high-class rooms, a restaurant, two bars, a health spa and the upper deck.

Au Co cruises would bring tourists across the Ha Long, Lan Ha, Bai Tu Long Bays and Cat Ba Island in a two days and three nights trip, he informed.

At present, Bhaya Co is running 12 cruises on Ha Long Bay.

Vietnamese art works nominated for Asia - Pacific prize

Five Vietnamese art works have just been nominated for the second triennial Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize in 2011 in Singapore among the 130 works by 129 artists from 24 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region.

The works include installation art works titled “Cloud” (by Ly Hoang Ly), and “432,000 or 675,098 or 178,985 or 765,455.099 or…” (by Le Thua Tien).

The others are the paintings titled “Brotherhood”, “The past moved” by Pham Huy Thong and Bui Cong Khanh, and photo “Passport of the planet” by Nguyen Minh Phuong.

Launched by the Foundation in collaboration with the Singapore Art Museum, the prize is open to all forms of art and artists in the Asia Pacific region. It seeks the most outstanding contemporary artworks produced in the Asia Pacific.

15 works going to the final round will be displayed at the Singapore Art Museum and the winner will receive US$37,000 in cash.

The award ceremony is scheduled to be held on November 18.

First held in 2008, the prize has gathered works from 12 countries in the region.

2012 Hue Festival to open in April

As many as 23 art troupes from 12 countries around the world have registered to participate in the Hue Festival, scheduled to take place April 7-15, 2012.

Deputy Chairman of the Thua Thien Hue provincial People’s Committee and head of the Festival’s organising board, Ngo Hoa, said the event, with the theme "Cultural Heritage Combined with Economic Development and International Integration," will open National Tourism Year 2012.

Highlights of the festival will include the Nam Giao Offering Ritual, an Ao Dai (Traditional Dress) Grand Show, Royal Night, Legends of the the Huong (Perfume) River and Oriental Night.

The 13th plenary meeting of the Association of Historical Cities will also coincide with the festival.

Vietnam’s circus has great potential abroad  

Vietnam’s circus has won many accolades in international competitions, where circus artists had an opportunity to perform in several foreign countries and proved their prowess by taking up international challenges.  

Vietnam has won a gold medal at the third international circus festival that took place in Albacete in Spain from February 14-25 this year.

Artists performed the show “Superman Swing”, in which eight artists from the Vietnam Circus Federation also won the ‘Audience Favorite Award’, based on 10,000 spectator votes.

Last month, at the 2011 International Summer Circus Festival held in Havana in Cuba from August 8-14, the brothers Giang Quoc Co and Giang Quoc Nghiep of Vietnam won the Grand Prix prize.

They performed the show “Power of Arms,” which had earlier won a gold medal at the Hanoi International Circus Festival in 2010. The duo impressed judges and audiences with their perfect balance, strength and beautifully graceful movements.

These successes have been promising and an excellent opportunity for Vietnamese artists to present their artistic skills on a foreign land.  

Compared to other art forms, circus has an advantage of reaching out to audiences with its graceful language and easy to understand style, for all class of society. That is why circus operators have been organizing many shows in foreign countries recently.

The Ho Chi Minh City Circus Association sends artists to perform in Taiwan each year from March to June, drawing tens of thousands of viewers to the theater. The circus has recently been invited to perform in Japan, a place where Vietnamese artists are warmly received.

According to circus artists, Vietnamese circus shows that have been staged abroad are small performances not magnificent spectacles.

In fact, Vietnam’s circus has no shortage of artists in the sector, because if necessary, Vietnam can invite foreign experts to collaborate. However, the country is short of funds and should more funds be made available, Vietnam can do excellently, having already proved its ability by winning accolades in international festivals.

Circus artists spent five years practicing Lang toi ( My village) shows to perform in overseas countries which were so successful and attracted such a great deal of attention that artists were later invited to present on larger stages abroad.

Despite these successes, artists are very worried. Musician Ho Van Thanh, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Circus Association said the circus has performed on stages in France for nine years, this year being its tenth. Artists must now think of adding new performances if they do not want to stagnate with repetitive shows.  

Thanh proposes more investments in this art form to bring Vietnamese circus to outshine in South-East Asian region as well as in other Asian and European countries.
 
Concert to promote country’s traditional music  

A special concert entitled “Vietnam Beauty” honoring the intangible cultural heritage of the country will be held at the Au Co Arts Center in Hanoi on September 10.  
 
The concert will present to audiences various kinds of music and dance from 54 provinces of Vietnam.

UNESCO has so far recognized five heritages of Vietnam as Intangible Heritage of Humanity, including Nha Nhac (Hue royal music), Ca Tru (ceremonial songs), Quan Ho (Love duets) and Hoi Giong (Saint Giong Festival).

The concert aims not only to keep alive the traditions of Vietnamese folk music and foster love for this style amongst people, but also aims to promote Vietnamese culture and traditions to international visitors.

The event was first organized in 2010 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Viet Nam Music and Dance Theatre.

Hanoi Museum to receive 3,000 precious items

Over a year after launching a campaign for donation, collection and introduction of historical materials and items, Hanoi Museum has received some 3,000 pieces, reports Vietnam+.

Collector Bui Huu Hung, based at 109 Xuan Dieu Street, Tay Ho District in Hanoi, donated 630 objects, many of which have high value such as eight bronze drums and bronze and ceramic collections.

Besides, Doai area’s antique association handed over 123 items, and historian Duong Trung Quoc offered three of Hanoi’s ancient title boards to the museum. Similarly, Duong Phu Hien, living in 380 Au Co Street, Tay Ho District in Hanoi, offered 29 antiques, including a lime-pot collection

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology contributed 646 articles relating to the subsidized period in Hanoi and Ngo Thi Tam, a resident in Vinh Yen Town, Vinh Phuc Province, donated 40 kilos of coins.

In addition, these donations are considered as the foundation to set up a data bank on tangible cultural heritages for Hanoi Museum.

At present, Hanoi Museum continues calling for contributions from organizations and individuals, aiming to enrich its collections.

 ‘Single Mothers’ Voices’ exhibit looks at community issues in Hanoi

Photographic depictions of single mothers’ hardships, thoughts, dreams and future plans are on display in Hanoi until September 9.

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi and the Tan Minh Commune Party Committee in Soc Son District have organized the exhibition, titled “Single Mothers’ Voices,” which opened at the Tan Minh Commune’s Xuan Duc Cultural House on August 9.

The exhibition, which was displayed at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum from March 7th to August 7th, aims to raise awareness within the community of what it’s like to be a single mother, according to the museum.

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum has said the show is part of a new initiative in which the museum aims to cooperate with local communities to deal with their own local problems and strive for equality for all people.

Foreigners get a taste of Cai luong  

Several foreign visitors to the Hanoi Cai Luong Theater wore head sets the other night to watch the company’s first ever cai luong opera translated into English, at Chuong Vang Theater on August 13.

According to theater director Tran Quang Hung, the opera, Menh de vuong (King’s Fate), was an effort to gauge foreign audiences’ interest in cai luong, a form of traditional Vietnamese folk opera which has its roots in the Mekong Delta.

“King’s Fate,” which tells the story of the tragic life of Ly Chieu Hoang (1218-1278), Vietnam’s only Empress regnant, followed comedy sketches and cheo, a form of satirical musical theater from northern Vietnam. The opera focuses on the tensions created by strict gender roles and other social relationships in feudal Vietnamese society.

“The only people coming to see cai luong now are old men and women and street vendors, you rarely see the middle-aged or youth. We often look out into the house seats and we get worried. So we gotta [reach out to another audience], it’s probably even a little late already,” said Hung, who also directed Menh de vuong.

Unlike the cheo or comedy sketches, where only the summaries were made available in English, the theater translated the entire 105-minute cai luong opera. The theater has eschewed a recorded translation for a live interpretation, to ensure the English is able to keep up with varied rhythms of every performance.

After opening night, a question and answer session was held to collect feedback from the audience, according to the director.

“A middle-aged man suggested that he didn’t like the play itself, but he did like the costumes and actors. Two younger visitors were very excited about the performance. We depend on this kind of feedback to decide if and how we will continue,” said Hung.

“We expect to have something more to offer to tourists in addition to water puppet shows,” said the director, who plans to have other classic operas translated into English in the near future.

Vietnamese and Thai artists to present artworks in Hue  

Artists from Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and Thailand will participate in an art workshop and an exhibition in the historical imperial capital of Hue from August 29 to September 14.  

The workshop, Printmaking in contemporary Arts and Printmaking 3D-installation, will kick off the event at 8:30 a.m. at Hue Printmaking Studio within Hue College of Arts, 10 To Ngoc Van Street.

The artist will present techniques in contemporary woodcut, batik on cloth, papermaking, and paper block.

Two days before the workshop’s closing, an exhibition titled Make your signs, create your life, will open at New Space Art Foundation, 15 Le Loi, on September 1.

The group exhibition, to be close on September 14, will feature artworks by 23 representatives from Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, and Hanoi. Artists include Nguyen Nghia Phuong, Vo Duy Don, Le Van Ba, and Nguyen Thi Hai Hoa, and two Thai artists, Adisuk Phupha and Pakitsadang Tawee-wut from Mahasarakham University.

Vietnamese artists nominated to compete for Signature Art Prize  

Five artists from Vietnam will compete at the second Asia-Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize in Singapore this year.  

Bui Cong Khanh, Ly Hoang Ly, Nguyen Minh Phuong, Pham Huy Thong and Le Thua Tien will present their works in different genres of art, including painting, installation and photography. The works  reflect social issues in Vietnam such as urbanization and environment.

This year, the Vietnamese artists will compete with 125 foreign colleagues from 24 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific to win one Grand Prize of US$37,215, and three Juror’s Prizes (US$8,270 each) for noteworthy works.

Whereas, a People's Choice Award (US$8,270) will be given to the work with the most online and on-site public votes.

In addition, 15 finalists will be selected and exhibited at Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in November for the final judging.

This year’s participants were selected by 31 nominators. All the nominated works were created between 2008 and 2010.

Vietnamese artists were nominated by PhD, art curator Boi Tran Huynh-Beatties.

Established in 2008 by APB Foundation and the SAM, the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize is a prominent platform for both emerging talents as well as established names, and reflects developments in the region's contemporary art landscape.

The triennial Prize is open to all visual artwork, regardless of medium, subject matter and size. Entry is by nomination only by independent, established art experts from the region. They select recently produced works that are groundbreaking in their artistic insight and concept, technique and expression.

The 15 finalists will be announced on October 1st.

For more information, please visit www.singaporeartmuseum.sg/signatureartprize

One-night show to feature traditional music from 54 ethnic groups  
 
Traditional music performed in Huong sac Viet Nam

The fourth Huong sac Viet Nam (Vietnam’s scent and beauty) will take place in Hanoi on Sept 10 to promote the country’s traditional, folk music and other “specialties” in art and culture.  

The one-night show will feature traditional music of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam as well as world cultural heritages, including gongs performance in central highlands and ca tru (an ancient genre of chamber music in the north).

According to artist Xuan Binh, Vietnam Song Dance and Music Theater’s head of the department of traditional, folk performance, the show will bring audiences into a journey to discover all culture and arts of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups.

In addition, artists from Vietnam Song Dance and Music Theater will also introduce new dances and compositions played by traditional musical instruments as well as familiar melodies.

Huong sac Viet Nam is performed by artists from Vietnam Song Dance and Music Theater. Since 2010, it is an annual art project of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which aims to preserve and introduce Vietnam’s diverse culture to the world.

The performance will take place at Au Co Art Center in Hanoi.

PV