Int'l artists take part in special concert

The Observatory will host a special two-night concert featuring international and Vietnamese artists this weekend.

The first night will highlight DJ Daniel Becker from Denmark, who has played music for over 15 years. He is part of duo Trickski with Yannick Labbe. The duo has travelled around the world playing techno, disco and house music.

The second night will feature DJ Borrowed Identity from Germany, who will spin classical to ambient, house to techno, experimental to electro, hip hop to pop. The show will include Starchild + Maraphoria, Maqman, Dan Lo, Kin and Hibiya Line.

The concert begins at 6pm on November 6 and 7 at 5 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4. Tickets are VND200,000 for two nights or VND150,000 for one night, including food and drinks. 

Festival celebrates Japanese fashion, cuisine

The Japan with Kilala 2015 festival featuring Japanese fashion and cuisine will be held at the Gem Center on November 14.

A Kilala Shopping Fair with 24 stalls will sell products from Japan's leading brands in fashion, food and electronics.

A fashion show titled Non-no Fashion Collection 2015 will showcase the latest collections of Japanese fashion brands of Uniqlo and Baroque Japan Limited. Japanese singer Erica and Vietnamese singer Noo Phuoc Thinh will perform.

Chefs Makiko Fujino and Miwako Watanabe will host a Japanese cooking seminar, and talk about Japanese cuisine and bento culture from the old days to present.

The festival begins at 10 am at 8 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street in District 1. Registration for 500 free tickets for the fashion show and 100 free tickets for the cooking seminar is available at www.kilala.vn/le-hoi-kilala-2015. 

Russian musicians perform masterpieces

On Sunday, November 8, Russian Centre of Science and Culture will host a concert featuring two musicians from the St Petersburg House of Music, Nicholas Stranatkovsky on trumpet and Vladislav Pedrov on piano.

The repertoire will comprise classical music pieces by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Schumann, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liszt, and others.

The free-entry concert will start from 8pm onwards. Russian Centre of Science and Culture is at 501 Kim Ma Street. 

Canada's Glenn Wool brings comedy to VN

Tonight, November 5, from 8pm onwards, highly acclaimed Canadian comic Glenn Wool will stir up the atmosphere at the House of Son Tinh with a comedic line-up.

Glenn started performing in 1995 in his hometown of Vancouver. After moving to London in 1998, he was nominated for Best International Stand Up at the New Zealand Comedy Awards and Best Headliner at the Chortle Awards and soon became a rising star on the international comedy circuit performing to large audiences in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, France, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Holland, Dubai, New York and Los Angeles.

Supporting Wool at House of Son Tinh will be the growing posse of local stand-ups that make up the Ha Noi Comedy Collective.

Tickets cost VND200,000 including a complimentary drink. House of Son Tinh is located at 31 Xuan Dieu Street.

Japanese Film Festival 2015 opens

Tomorrow, the Japanese Film Festival 2015 will open at the National Cinema Centre (NCC) with the screening of the movie Beyond the Memories at 7.30pm.

Organised by the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Viet Nam, the festival, which takes the theme Colors of Love will take place in Ha Noi, HCM City (November 9-17) and Da Nang (November 23-25).

The film festival will introduce six films, which portray various forms of love among friends. The event will wrap up on November 14 in Ha Noi. 

Consular Club holds Int'l Charity Bazaar

The HCM City Consular Club will hold its 22nd International Charity Bazaar on November 28 at the White Palace Convention Centre.

The bazaar will offer handicrafts, delicious international dishes and other items. Proceeds from the event will be distributed to charities.

The club was founded in 1994 and is a non-profit non-political organisation that aims to improve the quality of life of the most disadvantaged groups living in HCM City and surrounding provinces.

For more information, including advanced ticket sales and Grand Raffle tickets, contact the Consulate General of the State of Kuwait at 24 Phung Khac Khoan Street, District 1, HCM City. 

Film, music fest advocates for wildlife

A film and music festival will kick off on Sunday at the Thang Long Citadel Complex in Ha Noi with the aim of spreading awareness about wildlife trafficking, particularly the sale of rhino horns.

Films selected from the short film competition titled WildFest will be screened alongside films by invited directors Nguyen Quang Dung, Nguyen Hoang Diep and Bao Nguyen.

Launched earlier this year, the film competition's organiser received submissions from filmmakers in Viet Nam, South Africa, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.

There will also be live performances by well-known artists.

WildFest is part of Operation Game Chance (OGC), an alliance between the US and Viet Nam, which aims to end wildlife trafficking by raising awareness among Vietnamese consumers.

Nam Cao's writings out in new editions

The Kim Dong Publishing House has released new editions of writer Nam Cao's novel Song Mon (Marginal Live) and his short story collection Doi Mat (The Eyes).

The books are being released to mark the birth centenary of Nam Cao (1915-51), one of Viet Nam's outstanding writers of the 20th century.

Written in 1943, Song Mon refers to an important issue of the intellectuals of that era, particularly those who were full of eagerness and novel ideas, but whose lives were worn out because of worries about having means of subsistence.

Doi Mat is a collection of Nam Cao's short stories after the August 1945 Revolution. Doi Mat shows an attempt to change intellectuals and writers' views of peasantry.

A writer of the revolution who died fighting the French occupation, Nam Cao (born Tran Huu Tri) became an exemplary Vietnamese literary figure in the first half of the 20th century.

He is considered to have made a major contribution to the development of Vietnamese prose, and many of his works are regarded as classics of modern Vietnamese literature.

He is also regarded as a founder of the ‘new literature movement' of the newly independent Viet Nam.

Bac Lieu hosts national cai luong competition

The national cai luong (reformed opera) competition opens in Bac Lieu city on November 6.

Organised every five years by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Professional Cai Luong Festival has this time attracted 30 theatres and troupes, including seven private troupes, mostly from Binh Dinh and Long An provinces and HCM City, Da Nang, and Can Tho.

The HCM City-based Tran Huu Trang Theatre, one of the region's biggest, is set to unveil a new style by staging contemporary social plays Chien Binh (The Soldier), Lau Dai Cat (Sand Castle) and Doi Nhu Y (Hope for A Happy Life).

Directed by Phan Quoc Kiet, Doi Nhu Y highlights the challenges urban people face in preserving the country's traditional values amid modernity.

It features a group of young performers.

The city's Theatre Association has also used young actors for its historical entry titled Trung Than (Loyalist).

Directed by Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha, the play is about the royal secrets of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Taking on rivals from State-owned theatres, actors from private troupe Sao Minh Beo are pinning their hopes on an old legend. Trang Lam Quan (Head of the Village) is a tragicomedy based on several popular Vietnamese legends titled Trang Quynh ( A legendary wit living in the 18th century).

Directed by Meritorious Artist Pham Do Ky, it is based on the story of a young man who leads his villagers against landowners.

The play borrows from old stories to highlight today's social issues.

"We have invested 500 million VND (22,000 USD) in making the stage with costumes and sound and light effects," Hong Quang Minh, 39, the troupe's owner, who plays a leading role, said.

Minh uses a troupe to perform live music on stage instead of playing recorded music, which is the norm in cai luong.

He has also invited 60 students from theatre schools and drama clubs to accompany his own 20 actors.

The host city's Cao Van Lau Theatre, the contest venue, will stage its latest productions Dao Duy Tu, Que Huong Va Me (The Country and Mother), and Bong Bien (The Sea).

While Dao Duy Tu is based on the life of Dao Duy Tu, the great scholar, poet and military advisor who served under the Nguyen Dynasty, Que Huong Va Me and Bong Bien both examine social conflicts.

Festival organisers said artists would vie for awards for best play, best director, best scriptwriter, and best actor.

"To prepare for the festival, we have spent a lot of effort, time, and money on the stage, with beautiful costumes and sound and light effects," Khuu Minh Chien, head of Cao Van Lau, said.

"All our artists have also worked hard to get into the characters they play in an effort to draw theatre lovers back to cai luong, one of the country's three traditional arts along with tuong (classical drama) of the central region and cheo (traditional opera) of the north."

The festival will also see forums and seminars on the art in which traditional art and music researchers and critics will take part.

They will discuss ways to preserve and popularise the art of cai luong among youth.

The festival will go on until November 23.

Dragonfly Theatre presents tragi-comic play 

The Dragonfly Theatre Company will present tragi-comic play Lawrence and Holloman by Canadian playwright, director and actor Morris Panych at Saigon Outcast on November 20, 21, 27 and 28.

The play is about Lawrence and Holloman, a loquacious salesman and a hapless nerd who meet by chance. The story centres on the pathologically pessimistic Holloman and his perennially optimistic colleague Lawrence.

Saigon Outcast is located at 188/1 Nguyen Van Huong Street in District 2. Tickets are VND350,000 and VND400,000 at the door. They can be purchased at www.ticketbox.vn.

Ethnic groups gather to celebrate

Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Week will be held at the Culture Tourism Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups in Ba Vi District on the outskirts of Ha Noi from November 15-23.

Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the event is to celebrate Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23). The event is also to honour the diversified culture of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups.

A number of ethnic groups will participate, including Thai, Kho Mu in the Northern province of Dien Bien; Ta Oi in Central province of Thua Thien Hue; Cham in Binh Dinh central province; Mo Nong in Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, and Kinh in Ha Noi.

Visitors will have the chance to attend the traditional festivals of ethnic groups such as le cau mua (praying for rain) ritual of the Kho Mu, AzaKooh festival (praying for bumper crop) of Ta Oi; wedding ceremony of San Chay and the hair-washing festival of the Thai.

The Cultural Heritage Week will also comprise a photo exhibition which showcase people' life, natural landscapes, and their cultural heritage. Photos of lotus, which symbolise the pure dignity of Vietnamese nation, will be among the ones displayed at the exhibition.

An art performance featuring folk tunes and dances will be staged by ethnic performers. 

Da Nang kicks off culture exchange program

A culture exchange program between Vietnam and Sodrujestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv (SNG) group countries (also called the Russian Commonwealth of Independent States) has taken place at Da Nang city on October 28 to November 5.

Three international beauty pageants are organized within the framework of the program, including Young Miss World Beauty 2015, Miss World Beauty 2015 and Mrs World Beauty 2015.

Besides, a music performance takes place at Trung Vuong Theater on November 4 with the participation of famous Vietnamese artists such as Elite Artist Minh Huyen; singer Toc Tien, Kyo York, Hong Minh (the winner of the Voice Kids 2015), music band Ayor; Miss Diem Huong, Tra Ngoc Hang and others. 

The event is expected to attract crowded domestic and foreign visitors.

Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi voted Best Boutique Hotel in Asia

The Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi has been voted the Best Boutique Hotel in Asia in 2015 by readers of Smart Travel Asia, a leading regional online travel magazine.
The hotel also received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor for the fourth consecutive year.
Located in Hanoi’s inner Hoan Kiem district, the hotel has 107 rooms in classical French designs.
The meticulously-designed guestrooms and suites, four of which are l’Opera Grand Suites with stunning views of the opera house, have an ambiance which blends a touch of French décor with the luscious operatic setting and the plush comfort of a sumptuous hotel of the 21 Century.
Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi is the third hotel belonging to the MGallery group in Vietnam. The other two are La Veranda resort in Kien Giang province’s Phu Quoc, and La Residence in Thua Thien Hue province.
MGallery was launched in September 2008 by Accor. It now covers five continents and covered 100 locations as of 2013, growing to 150 locations by late 2015.
The hotel is a joint investment project between Dan Chu Tourism and Commercial Joint Stock Company of Vietnam and Accor Group, the world’s leading hotel manager.

German dance event set for late this month

Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (GIC/AHK Vietnam), in collaboration with the German Business Association (GBA), will hold the German Ball Saigon 2015 on November 21 at InterContinental Asiana Saigon in HCMC’s District 1, GIC/AHK Vietnam said in a statement.

German Ball Saigon 2015 is held to follow the successful 2013 edition and celebrate the 40th anniversary of Germany-Vietnam diplomatic tie as well as the 20th anniversary of GBA in Vietnam.

The German ballroom dancing event in old European tradition is promised to be a memorable evening. It will become an annual event of the German community in Saigon.

The program of German Ball Saigon 2015 features a Champagne reception, classic ballroom dancing, first class entertainment by two German bands and a gala dinner.

Expected to lure over 380 guests and business partners, the event offers an opportunity for participants to meet with a number of German enterprises.

Those interested can visit http://german-ball-saigon.com/ for further information and contact Antje Resech at resech.antje@vietnam.ahk.de to get tickets for the event which cost VND3.5 million (nearly US$157) per person.

UK’s Oscar winning director shares thoughts on opportunities for Vietnam’s cinema to go global

Lord David Puttnam, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, and a popular filmmaker with 10 Oscars awards and 25 BAFTA awards, last week conducted a seminar on “Opportunities for the internationalization of Vietnam’s cinema” in HCMC’s District 7 on the occasion of the on-going UK Film Week in Vietnam.

At the seminar, the veteran director/producer shared with media and local filmmakers his important message of “cinema is not a job to earn money, it’s passion.”

Asked how to promote Vietnamese movies with low-budgets to the world, Lord David Puttnam said that filmmakers do not underestimate film festivals. Some of his first movies with Alan Parker and Ridley Scott made debut at the Cannes film festival. One of those movies was Bugsy Malone (1976) directed by Alan Parker and produced by Puttnam. It was a very daring film and people at the film festival was so surprised to see it as it was a musical movie starring 12 and 13-year-old actors. Audiences made a wow and said the director knew how to make a movie. And then, Parker’s career went up. The same situation happend to Ridley Scott’s first movie – The

Dualists at Cannes the next year when audiences admitted the director’s talent. With these first two films of the two directors, audiences around the world started saying that the British knew how to make movies.

“My point is you only need two or, if you are lucky, three film-makers to break out and suddenly the whole world is talking about Vietnamese cinema. And audiences will rise up for one or two successes and the confidence will flow into the country’s cinema industry and filmmakers will believe in themselves. Audiences will also believe that Vietnamese films can be successful. And when you believe, it happens,” Puttnam added. 

According to Puttnam, nowadays, filmmakers have incredible advantages to make movies compared to people in the past. There are many film festivals in the world, like Sundance and the Asia Pacific Film Festival where independent filmmakers come to show their works. It doesn’t matter how big budget a movie has, but a good script, good actors and good filming techniques. Especially, the boundary in cinema can be erased when the movies’ messages are spreading to the world’s audiences.

He also shared that people who wish to make good movies need to have good preparations and practice. Creativity of a filmmaker is like muscle that needs to be regularly trained and practiced to have resilience. When people wish to have a successful film, they have to know core values and to be an honest voice of a generation to reflect society.

He also gave advice to local filmmakers to deliver the movie’s message cleverly, Instead of exposing it directly, a director needs to use another witted method. According to him, one of the movies that was able to do this method was “The story of Qiu Ju” by Zhang Yimou. Zhang used the image of actress Gong Li, a very popular star among Chinese people, to tell her character’s story in the movie and it was an extremely exciting story to people. With this method, the movie passed the censorship by authorities in China and later was widely known in the world.

Puttnam also helped solve a concern of local director/actor Cong Hau how to balance commercial and artistic elements of a movie. According to him, it’s a failure when a director puts himself in a concern of balancing these two factors. The quality of the movie will be judged by critics and experts and the

distributor will be in charge of revenue for the movie. What a director needs to do is making audiences go to the theater to see his message via that movie.

Puttnam also surprised attendees at the seminar when he unveiled his favorite Vietnamese movie “De Hoi tinh” (Let Hoi decides) as it was a commercial movie with less artistic features, according to people’s opinions. Even Puttnam himself couldn’t understand the reason but he loved the movie’s message as an audience. “De Hoi tinh” starring popular comedian Thai Hoa was directed by Vietnamese American director Charlie Nguyen and was released in 2014. 

The seminar conducted by Lord David Puttnam was an opening event of the UK Film Week Festival organized by British Council Vietnam from November 4 to 12 at CGV Cinemas in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC. Award-winning films to be screened during the week include God Help the Girl (2014), Nowhere Boy (2009), Pulp (2014), Northern Soul (2014), Good Vibrations (2013), Control (2007) and Bugsy Malone (1976). Tickets can be purchased now at www.ticketbox.vn. Further information is available at http://www.britishcouncil.vn/en/events/uk-film-week-2015-music-great-britain.

French photographer sells Vietnam-theme photo for 10,000 euros

A photo titled Best Friends by popular French photographer Rehahn was sold at a record price of 10,000 euros to a private collector at an exhibition in Brittany (France) in late October.

“Best Friends” features six-year-old M’Nong ethnic minority girl Kim Luan praying in front of an old elephant as her friend. M’Nong people consider elephants as members of their family. In the photo, Kim Luan wears a traditional dress which is hard to find on October 3.

The solo exhibition of Rehahn who has had nearly 60,000 photos about Vietnam was organized by the Eleven Art Gallery with the attendance of 200 guests. The event featured 20 photos of Vietnam in big sizes of 60x90cm and 1x1.5m priced from 950 euros to 10,000 euros. The “Best Friends” photo, also the biggest at the exhibition, is among three limited copies in the world. François Salmon, the owner of the gallery, said it is his most expensive photograph sold since he has started to work in photography industry for the past 20 years.

Rehahn told the Daily that he would spend part of the money on a project to improve the lives of Kim Luan and her family in the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot.

In the same month, Rehahn also attended a travel festival with 4,000 visitors as well as an introduction at a school with 100 students to promote Vietnam.

The photographer said his upcoming plans are to publish the second photo book, also a sequel of the first book “Vietnam - Mosaic of contrast” this month. He will also display 40 photos and costumes of the ethnic minority people in Vietnam at a festival in 2016 in Normandy which has annually welcomed 200,000 visitors. In March 2016, Rehahn will have five exhibitions in Argentina and South America to introduce Vietnam.

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