Da Nang night market to showcase local culture

The Da Nang People's Committee has approved the setting up of a night market on the eastern bank of the Han River by the Dragon Mekong Trade and Service Company at a cost of VND12.7 billion.

Meant to be a new tourism product and an attractive destination in the inner city, it will help advertise Vietnamese culture and cuisine to both locals and visitors.

The 12,000sq.m market will accommodate over 200 stalls selling goods and two drinking and eating areas. It will be in the shape of nine ships facing the Han River, and be open from 6.00pm to midnight every day.

In another development, the People's Committee vice chairman, Vo Duy Khuong, said next year the city would continue with its tourism stimulus programme to attract more domestic and foreign visitors.

Documentary on homosexuality to premiere

A documentary entitled “Chuyen di cuoi cung cua chi Phung” (The last journey of Madam Phung) on homosexuality by female director Nguyen Thi Tham will be screened at theaters starting this Saturday.

The 86-minute documentary tells the story about lives of homosexual people working in a troupe of transvestite singers that sparks both curiosity and hostility from local folks.

During five years of shooting the film between 2009 and 2014, director Tham traveled together with the troupe from Central Vietnam to the Central Highlands in an effort to describe good-hearted homosexuals who have to overcome social prejudices to live.

During the premiere, the director and two other actors also shared some heart-touching details behind the scene, in which Phung died of HIV/AIDS when the film making entered the final stage. “The documentary conveys a clear message that the society should recognize and treat homosexuals equally,” said Tham.

“The last journey of Madam Phung” was previously screened at a number of international documentary festivals.

Idecaf (28 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1) will show the documentary this Saturday. HCMC Association of Arts and Literature Associations (81 Tran Quoc Thao Street, District 3) will also screen the film on December 14, 19, 20 and 21.

Tickets are available at 25/14 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street in District 1. For more information, contact 083 822 0814 or 0906 051 256.

San Art holds Thresholds of Motion auction

San Art in partnership with Paddle8 is now holding an auction named Thresholds of Motion featuring works donated by 24 artists.

The proceeds will help San Art continue to offer opportunities for the local artistic community to engage international practitioners in thinking creatively of the relationship between art and society.

Bidding will officially close at 9 a.m. next Thursday. For further information, visit paddle8.com.

Ben Tre Coconut Festival – bigger than ever this year

The 4th Coconut Festival, set for April 7-13 next year, has been stepped up to a national event and will be bigger and better than ever, Tran Ngoc Tam, head of the organizing board has announced.

The festival is an annual celebration of Ben Tre’s uniqueness to the Mekong Delta region, Tam says, adding that this year’s event will include a culture tourism week, southern food festival, beauty pageant, poetry contest, coconut exhibitions and much more.

Ben Tre has the largest coconut cultivation area in Vietnam, spanning 65,000 hectares, producing 500 million coconuts each year. The province ships coconuts to 77 countries around the globe.

Ben Tre is also a top tourist destination in the region, receiving 900,000 tourists on average every year, which has been on the uptrend over recent years.

The Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) will hold tonight the traditional hongtaryeong dance to celebrate a successful year of Korean tourism in 2014, and launch new promotion strategies.

During this year, the KTO organised several programmes to promote Korean tourism in Viet Nam. As a result, the number of Vietnamese tourists to South Korea, as of the end of November, increased by 19.5 per cent year-on-year.

Hongtaryeong is a unique dance performed with drums and gongs, in which the dancers wear large hats with long ribbons. While dancing, they shake their heads in tandem with the accompanying music, creating beautiful images with flapping ribbons.

A photo exhibition on the beautiful landscape, culture and lifestyle of South Korea will be inaugurated tonight.

On the occasion, the KTO will also introduce a book entitled I Love Korea, featuring Korean tourism and destinations. The book comprises stories and testimonials by Vietnamese journalists and tourists who visited Korea. They were selected from a writing contest that was organised in July by the KTO and an online newspaper vnexpress.net.

Similar events have been organised in Da Nang and HCM City.

The Godfather to be screened in Ha Noi

One of the greatest films of all time, The Godfather, will be screened at the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD) in Ha Noi tomorrow, December 12.

The movie's part 1 will be presented at 1pm, while part 2 and part 3 will be screened respectively at 4pm and 7.30pm.

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with the screenplay written by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, the story spans the years between 1945 and 1955, concentrating on the transformation of Michael Corleone from a reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss, while chronicling the Corleones under the patriarch Vito.

Featuring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, The Godfather: Part II (1974) is both the sequel and the prequel to the first part, presenting parallel dramas: the sequel takes off from the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone crime family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; while the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City.

The 1990 The Godfather: Part III completes the story of Michael Corleone, who tries to legitimise his criminal empire. A fictionalised account of two real-life events – the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981-82 – was weaved into the plot, both events being linked to the affairs of Corleone.

All three movies will be presented in original languages with English subtitles. The proceeds from the sale of tickets, priced at VND20,000 each, will be donated to TPD's fund for movie talents. TPD is located at 51 Tran Hung Dao Street.

K+ announces new content strategy

K+, a leading premium pay-TV operator in Viet Nam, has announced yesterday a new content strategy that will provide new extensive international and localized entertainment content.

The new look of K+NS and K+PC will be dedicated to female audiences, with K+NS featuring TV series, movies and lifestyle shows directed at women.

Next year, there will be a total of 200,000 movies and 600,000 TV film series on K+ channels.

K+PC will have series marathons, where viewers can spend all day and night enjoying an entire season in one week or a couple of days. For the first time, the UK X Factor, America's Got Talent, the Magic show with legendary Chris Angel and recognized Cosentino, will air on K+ channels. There are now 750,000 subscribers using K+.

TV show celebrates legacy of People's Army

HCM City Television (HTV), in co-operation with its partners, will broadcast a special live programme tonight to mark the 70th anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army and the 25th anniversary of the National Defence Day (December 22).

The 150-minute programme, Vinh Quang Bo Doi Cu Ho (Glorious Uncle Ho's Soldiers), will feature celebrations around the city and in Cao Bang, Quang Binh and Dong Nai provinces.

The show's first part, Tu Nhan Dan Ma Ra (The Army of the People), focuses on the period between 1944 and 1954.

The second part titled V i Nhan Dan Chien Dau (Fight for the People) features the period of 1954-1975, and the third, Quan Doi Cua Hoa Binh (The Army of Peace), tells stories and events from 1975 to now.

There will also be reports on people and soldiers who live at the historic sites of Cao Bang and Quang Binh as well as HCM City's Cu Chi District, a heroic land that played a significant role in the American war.

Cu Chi lost 11,000 soldiers and is now home to 200 Heroic Mothers and 3,000 invalid veterans, all of whom are under the care of local authorities and other people.

Its Ben Duoc Memorial Temple will be highlighted. The temple was built to honour 45,000 heroes and martyrs across the country who died in battles during the French and American wars.

The show will be followed by 12 documentary reports featuring the beginning and development of the army during the last 70 years, which highlight talks by generals and heroes, and history researchers.

The show expects an audience of hundreds of Heroic Mothers, and veterans and soldiers invited by the organisers. The show will be broadcast live on HTV7 and provincial TV stations.

According to the show's general director Le Thuy, HTV and its partners, including the People's Army newspaper, hope that younger generations learn more about the country's history and revolutionary traditions.

The show will also include music, dance, and drama performed by about 400 artists from professional art troupes.

Songs, recognised as canons of the patriotic music, written by talented composers such as Luu Huu Phuoc, Do Nhuan and Hoang Viet, will be highlighted.

"Our artists have spent days to prepare for the show. We found inspiration by singing patriotic tunes, discovering that performing is learning," said Thuy.

Hue Relic Site ready to greet 30 millionth guest

The 30 millionth visitor to the Hue Relic Site, a UNESCO world cultural heritage, will be welcomed and feted at the end of this month.

The visitor is expected to arrive between December 24 and 30 when there will be several events honouring travel agents and individuals who have made great contributions to preserving Hue's cultural heritage, thanking the three travel agents who brought the largest number of visitors to the Hue relic site this year, art performances, and exhibitions.

On the occasion, visitors will enjoy a discount on entrance tickets and photo shoots in the royal palace.

Photo contest promotes tourism in Vietnam

An awards ceremony of a photo contest themed “Savour Vietnam” was held at Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on December 11.

The event, co-organised by Vietnam’s leading tour operator Saigontourist and Tuoi Tre Newspaper, attracted more than 545 interesting stories and over 3,000 photos featuring stunning landscapes, unique cultural features, traditional festivals, local culinary, and charms of Vietnamese people around the country.

According to the organising board, winning works will be collected in a book named “Savour Vietnam” with the aim of promoting the country’s images among Vietnamese and international friends.

Addressing the event, the contest’s second prize winner Johann Faranhammer, who is Head of development cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, said that Vietnam is the must-come country. It has everything that a traveller desires. The country is a harmony of peacefulness and excitement with beautiful nature and multistory buildings.

The most interesting thing is chatting with local people, he added.

Johann Faranhammer spent all his cash prize worth VND15 million on supporting cancer kids through the charity programme “Thuy’s Dream” (Uoc Mo Cua Thuy) implemented by Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Writing & photo contest honoring Vietnamese culture ends

Photographer Tran Thuy Linh won the first prize at a writing and photo contest named ‘Savour Vietnam’ for the writing titled Hon cho Viet (The spirit of Vietnamese market).

The two second awards in the essay category went to Johann Farnhammer, head of development cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines and Tran Van Dung from Nghe An Province for the works, “Character-the boundless resource” and Am ap hon Viet (The warm soul of Vietnam).

The organizers including Saigontourist Holding Company and Tuoi Tre Newspaper also offered three third prizes and four encouragement prizes.

In the photo category, the awards were granted monthly from July through October, including Hoang Thi Huyen of HCM City , Nguyen Dinh Hau of Nghe An Province, Pham Ngoc Hoang of Binh Thuan Province and Vu Ngoc Hoang of Khanh Hoa Province.

Launched four months ago, the organization board received around 545 writings and more than 3,000 photos of authors in the country and abroad.

The competition aims to honor and promote the beauty of the country and people as well as mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Southern Vietnam and the reunification of the country.