Golden Apricot Blossom awards launched

Nominations for the 18th Golden Apricot Blossom Awards, honouring the artists and their work in three groups including Music, Stage and Television-Cinematography, was launched on October 1 and will last until November 30, via websites nld.com.vn or maivang.nld.com.vn.

The music group is divided into six categories including ‘Favourite Male and Female Pop Singers’, ‘Favourite Country Singer’, ‘Favourite Band’ and Favourite Song’.

Sub-prizes in the group stage are ‘Favourite Male and Female Stage Artists’, ‘Best Comedian’ and ‘Best Stage Play’.

The categories of ‘Favourite TV Actor and Actress’, ‘Favourite TV film’, ‘Favourite TV Programme’ and ‘Favourite Master of Ceremony (MC)’ belong to the Television-Cinematography group.

Based on voters’ nominations, the organising board will choose top five artists and artworks to go on to the voting round, which will take place between December 15 and January 15, 2013.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for January 26, 2013 at the Ho Chi Minh City theatre and will be broadcast live on both HTV (Ho Chi Minh City Television) and VTC (Vietnam Television Corporation) channels

First, second and third prizes worth VND 10 million, VND 6 million and VND 4 million, respectively, will be presented to voters for their correct predictions.

The Golden Apricot Blossom awards have been held annually since 1995 by the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper to honour individuals and groups of artists of the year, who have made significant contributions to the country’s development of culture and the arts.

Ethnic costumes go on display in Belgium

An exhibition of traditional costumes worn by Vietnam’s ethnic groups was opened to the public at the Wallonie-Brussels regional government building in Belgium on October 1.

As part of the activities held during the ‘Vietnam Cultural Week’, currently underway in Belgium, the exhibition introduces visitors to exhibits and photographs portraying all of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic community groups.

The event aims to promote the country’s cultural diversity.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnam’s Ambassador to Belgium, Pham Sanh Chau, said he hoped that the exhibition will help to strengthen friendship and understanding between the two countries.

The ‘Vietnam Cultural Week’ runs from September 29 to October 5 to highlight the 40th anniversary of Vietnamese-Belgian diplomatic ties in 2013.

The exhibition was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium and the Vietnam’s Cultural Arts Exhibition Centre at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Online short film festival starts today

The Yxine Film Festival will give online audiences the opportunity to enjoy the work of talented and exciting filmmakers when it opens today, Oct 3.

Ten short films will be presented each day on the website www.yxineff.com, until October 10.

The festival, which is an annual event, will this year screen a total of 66 films in four categories: International Competition, Local Competition, Panorama and In Focus.

The submissions will be evaluated by the jury, which includes the director Phan Dang Di, actress Do Thi Hai Yen, cinematographer Nguyen K'Linh, producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc and critic Cao Viet Dung.

The Yxine Film Festival focuses on the interactive features available with an online network. Organisers have said that the event is aimed at attracting and bringing together a target audience of young independent filmmakers and cinema lovers.

In 2010 over 1 million viewers accessed the site for the project, while last year that number doubled.

Comin Asia photo contest winners

The engineering solution provider Comin Asia in conjunction with RMIT University’s Photography Club last week announced Vo Minh Giang as the winner of the ‘Energy-Air, Water & Electricity’ photo contest at RMIT campus in HCMC’s District 7.

Giang, a second-year student of Professional Communications at RMIT/president of the university’s Photography Club, brought home a Canon PowerShot G12.  Second and third prizes went to Nguyen Quang Nguyen and Ha Van Trang.

The contest drew the attention of more than 40 students who had to translate some factory apparatus involved in energy, air, water or electricity into lively, stunning and artistic artworks.

VNN/ND/VNS/SGT/VNA