Art performance marks National Day

Vietnamese people have enjoyed an art performance in praise of the victory of the August Revolution and National Day.

The art performance, jointly held by Radio the Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television at the National Broadcasting Centre in Hanoi on September 2, showed warm sentiments towards naval officers and soldiers on Truong Sa (Spratly) Island who are defending the country’s sovereignty.

Songs and dances were presented and illustrated with video clips and a report on the ceramic mural of the national flag, which is located at the top of the conference hall on Truong Sa Lon (Big Spratly) Island.

Vietnamese culture in spotlight in RoK

A festival promoting Vietnamese culture and history got underway in Seoul , the Republic of Korea , on Sept. 1 as part of activities to mark the 20 th anniversary of the Viet Nam-RoK diplomatic ties (1992-2012).

The festival is organised by the Korea-Viet Nam Friendship Association (KOVIFA) with the support of the RoK Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Addressing the event, KOVIFA President Choi Young-joo stressed similarities in history and culture shared by the two countries, as well as their common goal of peace, friendship and cooperation.

He noted that Vietnamese number about 123,000 among the total 1.4 million foreigners living, studying and working in the RoK.

The KOVIFA President expressed his hope that the festival will offer an opportunity for RoK people to understand more about the culture and history of Vietnam and help multi-cultural families soon integrate into the local community.

The festival is scheduled to be held in turn in Seoul 's four districts of Guro, Dobong, Eunpyung and Seongdong every Saturday this month.

Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Trong Toan spoke highly of KOVIFA's hosting the significant event in the context that the friendship and cooperation between the two countries are developing fruitfully in all fields.

The diplomat took the occasion to thank the RoK Government and people as well as KOVIFA for their support to Viet Nam-RoK families.

He expressed his hope that the friendship between Viet Nam and the RoK will continue to develop, for interests of each country's people, and for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world at large.

Vietnamese brides in the RoK joined in the festival with several artistic performances and Viet Nam 's traditional dishes.

Buddhist festival lauds mums' love

Cultural centres and art troupes in HCM City have begun a series of events for Vu Lan, an annual Buddhist festival celebrated in the seventh lunar month to eulogise motherly love.

Most begin this week and continue until the end of the month.

The Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9 on Thursday began a programme featuring culinary parties and stage plays that highlights people's gratitude to and appreciation of their mothers.

Major cai luong (southern reformed theatre) stars like Vu Luan and Phuong Hang will perform for free on the occasion, saying their art aims to encourage young people to love and respect their mothers.

The two-day event is expected to attract 30,000 visitors, including over 1,000 Buddhists, from the city and neighbouring provinces. Hung Dao Theatre will have a full cai luong schedule during the festival season.

It will stage extracts from cai luong operas like Me mai Trong Doi Con (Mother is in My Mind Forever) and Duyen Kiep (Predestination) based on the life of heroic mothers.

But organisers of the events said they are not looking to make profits from them, merely hope to encourage young people to love and respect their mother.

"Vu Lan is a time for people, especially youth, to look back and remember their mother's love and sacrifices," Minh Tri, a young artist at the District 3 Women's Cultural House, said.

"For me, performing during these days evokes the feeling how great my mother's merit is," the 23-year-old singer said.
 
Uncle Ho and Thua Thien – Hue photo contest winners announced

The winners of a photography contest on ‘President Ho Chi Minh and Thua Thien - Hue’ were announced at an awards ceremony in Hue city on August 30.

Dang Van Tran won the first prize for the photo entitled ‘Collecting Stamps about Uncle Ho’. ‘Childhood Memory’ by Tran Thi Ngoc Truyen and ‘Duong No Communal House’ by Truong Vung received second prizes and the organising board also presented three third and five consolation prizes.

The 79 best entries were displayed at an exhibition the same day to mark the 67th anniversary of the August Revolution and Vietnam’s National Day (1945-2012).

The contest, co-organised by the Ho Chi Minh Museum, in co-ordination with the Thua Thien - Hue provincial Photography Association, aimed to promote President Ho Chi Minh's tangible and intangible heritage and honour the province’s revolutionary struggles.

Four months after it was launched, the contest had received 196 pictures from 41 members of photography clubs and associations in the province.

Hot Air balloons take to Binh Thuan’s skies
 
The first ever Vietnamese International Hot Air Balloon Festival got underway in Phan Thiet city on August 31 in the central province of Binh Thuan. Numerous balloonists and pilots from 12 countries and territories are taking part.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan joined Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Huynh Vinh Ai and representatives from several ministries and provinces attended the event.

According to the organising board, 21 hot air balloons of all different shapes, sizes and colours will take to the skies above Phan Thiet within a radius of 25 km to portray the message ‘blue sea-white sand-sunshine’, the distinctive features of Binh Thuan province.

A wide range of activities, including kite flying and tourism and trade fairs will also take place as part of the four day festival.

The festival hopes to create a new kind of tourist attraction, while promoting Binh Thuan’s people and countryside in particular and Vietnam in general to international friends.

Ngoc Diep and Vo Tan Binh serve up comic farce

 Two main characters Ngoc Diep (L) and Ngo Kien Huy
in Nang Men Chang Bong.

Vietnamese film fans will be flocking to the flicks this weekend as the gorgeous Ngoc Diep returns to the fold in Nang Men Chang Bong and this feisty lady is in no mood to be messed around in this rom-com.

Directed by Vo Tan Binh (Lotus Season) it is a controversial pairing of Saigon’s girl-next-door Diep, who is the darling of TV soap Thien Su Long Bong in her role as wild child Le Ly and movie appearances in Cuoi Ngay Keo Lo and Co Dau Dai Chien and Ngo Kien Huy.

Huy is regarded as the bad boy of Vietnamese showbiz after he got his best friend and mentor singer Thanh Thao’s younger sister Thuy Anh, also a singer, pregnant but denied he was the father and suggested she get an abortion and when baby was born he asked Thuy Anh to get a DNA test. After Thuy Anh was hospitalized earlier this year due to severe depression, Thanh Thao decided to speak out about the scandal.

Huy confessed all about his son Jacky Minh Tri to girlfriend, Khong Tu Quynh, and she forgave him for his mistakes with his parents suggesting he take responsibility and support the child. If Vietnamese filmgoers are as forgiving remains to be seen.

Anyway back to the movie which has been criticized in some quarters for the fact it was a rushed job filmed in just two months and they claim it is a bit of a farce, also maybe because of Huy’s involvement, but others have said it is an absolute scream and if Diep’s last feature Cuoi Ngay Keo Lo is anything to go by, get yourself along to a cinema near you now. More slapstick than high-browed humor but it is a fun movie which should give local audiences bellyache with laughter.

Diep is Ut Chot a free spirit and regarded as a masculine tomboy with the looks of an angel, but she makes it her mission to save a sensitive guy Chang Eo Ot (Huy) from a wedding disaster to a local girl.

Huy is weak willed, though, and is set to follow his parents’ wishes who have arranged his upcoming nuptials with a local girl from birth, as is the custom of some Vietnamese families, more so in the past.

But as we know when men meet Ms Diep she is very good at changing their minds and hooking them under her spell.

Also out today is The Four by Gordon Chan which is an adaptation of one of Wan Ray-An’s classic Wuxia novels, revolving around four famous detectives in ancient China.

Deng Chao, Ronald Cheng and Collin Chou and actress Crystal Liu, who starred in Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan, portray the four leading characters in the movie.

An undercover agent is assigned by his corrupt chief to infiltrate a rival department and sabotage their investigation into counterfeit cash.

But he discovers what the department’s real plan is not to flood the city with hooky money but with an army of the undead.

Both movies are out today.