Acclaimed school short films to be screened in Japan

Three award-winning films at a recent national short films contest for school students will be invited to take part in an international film festival for Asian Children at the end of November in Minamuawaji Province, Japan.

The films include Nam Tram Nghin Dong (Five Hundred Thousands Dong) by a group of students from Hanoi's Phan Chu Trinh Secondary School, Giac Mo (A Dream) by a group of Hue Secondary School students and Nhung Ngay Toi Truong (School Days) by orphan students from Hanoi's Birla School.

This seventh national contest, organised by the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, gathered 35 films by school students from Hanoi, HCM City, Danang and Khanh Hoa.

Impressive Vietnam Festival in Japan

Despite hot weather, crowds of Japanese people poured into Yoyogi park in Tokyo on September 14 to explore Vietnam’s land, people and cultural customs.

Visitors to Vietnam Festival 2013 had the chance to sample traditional Vietnamese dishes, enjoy folk songs, and see Ao Dai – an elegant traditional long dress.

Nakamura, who teaches Vietnamese students Japanese, said she often participates in the event to not only taste Vietnamese dishes and enjoyed art performances, but also discover the Southeast Asian nation’s culture.

“Vietnam today is developing rapidly and many Japanese investors are keen to invest in the Vietnamese market,” said Nakamura. “The relationship between the two nations will get closer if their people speak and understand each other’s language and culture.”

“I am happy that many of my Vietnamese students can speak Japanese and make friends with Japanese people,” she said.

Many Japanese people, specially youths, are interested in Vovinam - Vietnam’s traditional martial art which is known around the globe.

Nichiryu, who has practiced Vovinam for two years, said he loves this kind of martial art because “it deepens my understanding of Vietnam’s glorious struggle for national defence.”

He expressed his hope that the Japan Vovinam Association which currently has 30 members will be invited to perform in next year’s Vietnam Festival to introduce this martial art to more Japanese people.

Vietnam Festival 2013 was a major event in a series of activities held in five big Japanese cities to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Medals flow at theatre festival

Meritorious artist Chi Trung from the Youth Theatre was awarded the Best Director title at a festival featuring works by noted playwright Luu Quang Vu (1948-88) here yesterday.

Another 16 actors won gold medals and 34 won silvers for acting in 12 dramas, cheo (traditional opera) and cai luong (renovated opera) during the festival organised here last week.

According to the jury, Trung's staging of Vu's play, Mua Ha Cuoi Cung (The Last Summer), clearly expressed the director's and the whole team's effort to make the already-popular 1980's script fresh and relevant to today.

The play featured some cinema effects to produce interesting features. "Video clips were introduced between the scenes to enlarge stage space," said People's Artist Le Tien Tho.

A ceremony was also held to celebrate the Viet Nam Theatre Day, which falls on the 12th day of the eighth lunar month.

Some theatrical artists, who have made considerable contributions to the nation's theatre, such as People's Artist Nguyen Dan Quoc and Meritorious Artist Ta Xuyen were praised at the ceremony.

Whole-army Television Festival opens

The 10th Whole-army Television Festival kicked off on September 15 at the Cultural House of Military Zone 5 in Da Nang city.

Two hundred documentaries, reportages, science-defence education reports and more than 100 television programs under the themes ‘Whole People’s National Defence’ or ‘For National Sovereignty and Border Security’ were submitted to the festival by 120 military television teams from across the country. The best works will be selected for competition at the upcoming National Television Festival.

A series of workshops on improving the quality of army television programs will also be held during the festival.

The event, which runs until September 21, offers an opportunity for military television teams to meet and exchange their experiences.

Tea ceremony spotlights rich cultures

Together with Viet Nam Day held in Tokyo, Vietnamese and Japanese cultures were on show at the HCM City Friendship Palace on Sunday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Vietnamese and Japanese tea ceremonies, Japanese cuisine, martial art Katori Shintoryu, Yosakoi dance, calligraphy and Haiku poems were displayed during the Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Day in HCM City.

The cultural event was also attended by Vietnamese tea artisan Vien Tran, who introduced Vietnamese tea culture and offered tea to Vietnamese and Japanese youth.

Besides, 50 out of more than 100 paintings and sketches about Japan by painter Tran Quan Ngoc, who had spent 40 days in the country, were showcased during the one-day festival.

According to Nguyen Cong Tanh, chairman of Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Association, the festival was among several activities held in HCM City to mark the 40th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations.

"The activities help Vietnamese in HCM City understand further about Japan's culture and people, and promote ties between the two nations," he added.

At the event, Hida Harumitsu, general donsul of Japan in HCM City, said that diplomatic relations and mutual understanding between Viet Nam and Japan had developed well in recent years.

"It's a wonderful festival for the Vietnamese people to understand more about Japanese culture," Hida said.

Popular youth novel Paris Through Closed Eyes translated into English

The English version of a popular novel among youths by female writer Duong Thuy has just been published by the Youth Publisher.

Titled Paris Through Closed Eyes, the English version of Nham Mat Thay Paris was completed by American translator Elbert Bloom.

The 324-page novel tells the story of a young Vietnamese woman named Quynh Mai, who works for a French cosmetics company and has to face the forces of jealousy, evil and greed on her way up the corporate ladder.

The book also concentrates on the psychology of people in love and in business relationships.

Thuy has travelled widely in Europe for many years and wrote some other famous novels including Oxford Thuong Yeu (Beloved Oxford) or Venice va Nhung Cuoc Tinh Gondola (Venice and Love Affairs on the Gondola).

Int'l online short film festival to open

The 2013 YxineFF international online short film festival will open September 21.

The annual film fest, organised by Yxine.com – a forum for cinema lovers, aims to inspire the cinematic passion of young filmmakers from around the world.

This year's festival theme will be "Choice", and as such, online film fans will have the chance to enjoy short films in many genres including cartoons, psychological thrillers, action movies and documentaries, according to head of the YxineFF film selection board Marcus Vu Manh Cuong.

Nguyen Trong Khoi's Khong Co Gi Quy (Even Just for One Day) will be screened at HCM City's Megastar Paragon to open the festival on September 21.

ZAG Village, a non-profit educational organisation, will work alongside YxineFF, offering its own short film screenings and exchanges with film-making teams.

Also on September 21, a second opening ceremony for the festival will be organised in La Clef cinema in Paris, screening five short films from Viet Nam, Cambodia and France.

Vietnamese overseas director Tran Anh Hung and playwright Quoc Dang Tran will join a workshop at the festival on the art of changing novels into films.

All competing films are available to view on the www.yxineff.com website from September 21 to December 13. Audiences can vote for their favourite films, leave comments, and communicate with the filmmakers.

YxineFF was founded in 2010 with the slogan "Sharing-Love-Cinema". This year there will be four competitive categories: international competition, local competition, panorama and in-focus.

The festival's winners will be honoured at a ceremony in December this year.

Ceremony to honor Hoang Sa Fleet to be reinstated

A troop banquet ceremony honoring the Hoang Sa Fleet which patrols Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagoes on Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai will be revived in Hanoi this November.

The annual event is an age-old cultural belief of the people on the islands that also pays tribute to the ancient army of Paracel and Spratly, who devoted their lives to the country.

The ritual is part of the activities in the framework of ‘Week of National Unity-Vietnam Cultural Heritage’ to take place in Son Tay Town in Hanoi this November.

The Cultural Week will mark the 83rd anniversary of Vietnam National United Front on November 18, the Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Day on November 23, and the inauguration of the Khmer Pagoda Complex in the Tourism and Culture Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Groups.

HCM City hosts Vietnam-Japan Culture Festival

The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organization and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism kicked off the Vietnam-Japan Culture Festival on September 15, marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.

The event attracted a huge crowd of citizens, students, enterprises, and Japanese people living in Vietnam.

This event is also to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan as well as Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year.

Many interesting activities took place in the event, such as performance of traditional customs, unique cuisines of Vietnam and Japan, Haiku poetry, Japanese tea ceremony, Japanese sword, Yosakoi dancing and Japanese ornamental fish exhibition.

On the occasion, the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Hiroshima donated 300,000 yen to HCMC Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients, Tan Kieu School (Dong Thap Province) and Tan Tao School (Hoc Mon District).

Vietnam Stage Day celebrated

The Vietnam Association of Stage Artists (VASA) held a celebration to mark its traditional day, the 12th day of the eighth lunar month, at Hanoi’s Cong Nhan Theatre on September 16.

The annual celebration is a chance for artists from across the country to get together to pay tribute to the theatre’s ancestors who laid the foundation for the national art forms and contributed to their development through the years.

On the occasion, the VASA presented the Third Class Independence Medal to former Chief of the VASA Secretariat Truong Dinh Tho and veteran stage artists over 70 years old for their contributions to the development of theatre in Vietnam. Awards were also given for outstanding individual and ensemble performances in 2012.

The VASA also held an award ceremony to present 16 gold and 34 silver medals to the best actors, productions and directors in a festival featuring the works of playwright Luu Quang Vu’s.