Art & Entertainment News 18/8 Dep Fashion Runway 3 tryouts attract foreign models   The recent tryouts for the upcoming Dep Fashion Runway 3, which were held at the Royal City Mall in Hanoi, attracted a large number of young Vietnamese and foreign models. Hundreds of young passionate models aged 16-25 desirous of shining on the catwalk participated in the fashion competition. Under the guidance of supermodel Xuan Lan and other celebrities, the chosen candidates are now preparing for the final competition set for September 13 at the Royal City Mall in Hanoi. Miss Teen Vietnam joins world peace conference in Japan Miss Teen Friendly 2011 Nguyen Thi Anh Tho has been selected one of the seven young delegates worldwide to attend the Peace Conference of Youth (PCY) 2014 slated for Osaka from August 25-30. In her registration to the organizing board, Tho raised her voice about East Sea related issues, hoping to settle territorial disputes over national sovereignty through peaceful solutions. She stressed the need to strengthen friendship and cooperation among countries, saying this is the most important factor in ensuring happiness for all citizens worldwide. The Hanoi-based Foreign Trade University student is currently practicing hard for the event. She says she will perform several Vietnamese folksongs at the event to introduce international delegates to the beauty of Vietnamese culture. Tho, born in 1993, won first prize at the 2010 Russian Olympiad and received KEB Scholarship of the Republic of Korea last year. In 2013, she represented Vietnam at an AEON eco-leaders forum in Indonesia. H'Mong people show flute skills in August festival The H'Mong ethnic minority people’s traditional Khen (flute) festival is set to take place in Dong Van district, Ha Giang province on August 30-31 featuring a wide range of special activities. Ly Trung Kien, Vice Chairwoman of the Dong Van district People’s Committee, said the annual festival aims to preserve and promote the H'Mong’s traditional music instrument – Khen. It also provides a chance for Ha Giang’s artisans to exchange experience with those from other localities. This year’s event will gather outstanding artisans from 19 villages and towns in Dong Van and neighbouring districts to perform and compete in Khen blowing and dancing. The opening performance will help visitors understand better the history and origin of the Khen instrument and lyrics of the H'Mong in Dong Van stone plateau. Soon after the opening ceremony, there will be a street festival with hundreds of artisans, actors, actresses, ethnic minority students and lion dancers performing along streets in Dong Van township. Participants at the festival will have a chance to enjoy a Khen contest, take part in traditional games, admire traditional costumes of the H'Mong, Lo Lo and Giay ethnic minority people and taste traditional dishes. Hanoi to host ASEAN cultural festival Hundreds of people from ASEAN countries are expected to participate in an event featuring ASEAN cultures between November 18 and 23. The event will be held at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Son Tay district, 40 kilometres to the west of Hanoi's centre. Entitled "ASEAN Great Solidarity – A Vision, an Identity, a Community," the event will include various tourism promotion exhibitions, traditional food, costumes, handicrafts and arts. Around 100 people from seven ethnic groups throughout the country, including Mong, Thai, Cham, Gia Rai, Gie Trieng and E De, will participate in the festival. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan, said the event will be an opportunity for ASEAN members to introduce their countries, people, distinctive cultural values and their efforts at preserving and bringing into play the cultural values of ASEAN countries in general, and of Vietnam in particular. Daewoo Hotel Hanoi displays giant wedding cake   It took Vietnamese pastry chefs at the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi two days to bake a giant pink wedding cake, measuring 1.6mx 1.6m and elaborately decorated with over 3,500 flowers, including 2,500 roses. The cake went on display on August 15 as part of an event promoting the Daewoo Hotel’s wedding and honeymoon services. To give visitors a wonderful surprise, the hotel’s chefs added a pearl to the mixture, as a symbol of good fortune. Trung Dung and Hoang Lien, a couple attending the event, were served the piece of cake containing the pearl, and they were presented a diamond ring as a special gift to complement the pearl. Dung said this was a meaningful gift as he and his fiancée are to be married by the end of the year. Vietnamese dishes popular with Czech people A Czech survey shows up to 85% of the country’s respondents enjoy Vietnamese food cooked at Vietnamese restaurants in capital Prague. Local media quotes the survey as saying 67% of the people frequently taste the dishes while 1% eat them every day. Vietnam News Agency reports that many Vietnamese-run restaurants are mushrooming in capital Prague, and this is a flourishing trade, trailing after investing in groceries. There are no reports on the exact number of fast food restaurants run by Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic, but nearly 100 such restaurants are offering services in the capital. The Sapa Trading Centre, a leading business centre in Prague owned by Vietnamese people, is crowded on weekends with local Czech people enjoying Pho (noodle with chicken or beef), spring rolls, or noodle with grilled pork. The Czech government recognised Vietnamese people as an ethnic minority group in 2013, creating the chance for Vietnamese people to promote its distinctive culture, including food, among local people. Japanese puppetry set to wow audiences in Hanoi Ningyo Johruri Bunraku, traditional puppetry from Japan, will be performed in Hanoi by Osaka's Bunraku Company. Bunraku puppet theatre blends sung narrative, instrumental accompaniment and puppet drama. Some are historical plays set in feudal times, while others are contemporary dramas exploring the conflict between affairs of the heart and social obligations. The artists will perform an extract of Date Musume Koi No Higanoko (The Furious Love of a Greengrocer's Daughter), based on affairs from the Edo period about 300 years ago. Approximately 160 of the 700 plays written during the Edo period remain in today's repertory. When the protagonist Kichisaburo loses his sword, he is about to commit seppuku (suicide by disembowelling). His lover, Oshichi, a greengrocer's daughter, finds out where he lost the sword, but she can't go to inform him because all the city gates are closed. Since gates are opened if there is a fire, Oshichi climbs a watchtower and sounds an alarm bell. Presented by the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, the performance will take place at the Vietnam Puppet Theatre, 361 Truong Chinh Street, Hanoi, on August 30. Free tickets can be collected at the Japan Foundation, 27 Quang Trung Street. Korean blockbuster Roaring Currents premiers in Vietnam Vietnamese cinemas are set to begin screening the 2014 Korean film “Roaring Currents” directed by Kim Han-min from September 5. The film revolves around the titular Battle of Myeongnyang circa 1597, regarded as one of legendary Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin’s most remarkable naval victories, in which he led the only 12 remaining ships under his command to a heroic victory over an invading Japanese fleet numbering 330 vessels. The movie has attracted Korean fans thanks to the presence of leading Korean stars, including Choi Min-sik and Ryoo Seung Ryong. “Roaring Currents” drew 682,882 viewers on its first day in Korean cinemas on July 30, 2014, grossing US$4.77 million. The film generated US$39 million in revenue at the box office in the first week. Director Kim Han-min is well-known for “War of Arrows” which brought back the highest revenue in the Republic of Korea in 2011 with 7.46 million tickets sold. VN film vies for GIFF award in RoK The 14th Gwangju International Film Festival (GIFF) set to take place in the Republic of Korea (RoK) from August 28 to September 1 will feature the Vietnamese film “Thần tượng” (Idol). The film, directed by Quang Huy, tells the story of Tri, an ethnic Hoa (a Vietnamese of Chinese origin) living in HCM City, and his path to stardom in the music world. Despite his father's disapproval, he works hard to become a concert organiser and then a singer. Vietnamese singers starring in the film are Hoang Thuy Linh, Noo Phuoc Thinh, Dong Nhi and Ong Cao Thang and Miss Viet Nam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy. The film has won many accolades including a Golden Kite award from the Vietnam Cinema Association for Best Feature and a 2013 Journalism Choice award for the best movie. It has also been presented awards for Best Director (director Nguyen Quang Huy), Best Cameraman (Trang Cong Minh), Best Designer (Ngo Phuoc Truong) and Best Supporting Actor (Ngo Kien Huy in the role of Le Tran Nguyen). New season of Next Top Model begins The fifth season of the Vietnamese smash hit reality TV show Next Top Model is now open for both female and male contestants. The organizers have started to receive applications from both amateur and professional models aged between 18 and 25 for the national audition round, which kicks off in Hanoi on August 20 and in Ho Chi Minh City on August 26. The reality TV show is broadcast at 8pm every Saturday from November 1 on VTV3 channel. The first four seasons have seen many contestants grow and progress in the domestic model world, including Huyen Trang, Tuyet Lan, Hoang Thuy, Kha My Van, Mau Thuy, Tra My, Van Kien and Quang Dai. Some of them have strutted their stuff on the international catwalk in New York or London. Vietnamese Mother Goddesses worship introduced in Europe A collection of ritual outfits used in Vietnamese Mother Goddesses worship and Chau Van (ritual singing) performances will go on display in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands in September. Amateur models will introduce the beauty of the Vietnamese costumes, designed by Mai Tran, to international friends at the event co-organized by the Vietnam Culture Centre in France, the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Germany and My Son Import Export Investment JSC. Famous Vietnamese artists scheduled to appear at the event include meritorious artist Xuan Ba and singers Hieu Phuong, Thu Hang, Hoang Long and Khac Tu. In March 2014, Vietnam officially submitted documents related to Vietnam’s Mother Goddesses worship to UNESCO, seeking intangible cultural heritage status. If the status is approved, it will become an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in November 2015. Music stars ptake art in gala for Con Dao Islands Dozens of music stars, opera singers, dancers and other musicians from art troupes in HCM City will perform in a gala to highlight the history and people of Con Dao Islands on August 23 in HCM City. Called Con Dao- Hon Thieng To Quoc (Con Dao Islands- The Spirit of Country), the event will include four parts, featuring Con Dao in different periods of the country's history. The evening will open with opera pieces including Biet On Chi Vo Thi Sau (Showing Deep Gratitude to Young Heroine Vo Thi Sau) and Binh Minh Con Son (Sunrise on Con Son), written and composed by Nguyen Duc Toan, Tran Hoan and Hoang Ha. These songs praise Vietnamese revolutionaries, who were imprisoned and died in Con Dao Prison during the French and American wars. One of the event's highlights will be dances titled Linh Thieng Con Dao (Sacred Con Dao Islands) and Con Dao- Tieng Vong Ngan Xua (Con Dao Islands-The Echo of History) by skilled choreographers of the HCM City School of Dance. They created these works after a fact-finding visit on the islands when they lived with local people. The event organised by the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province's People Committee will take place at the Con Dao Historical Relics Area.  Special concert about love and peace for the youth “Vietnam Youth - The Story of Peace” is the name of a meaningful, yet totally free concert that will take place on August 28 at Hoa Binh Theater in HCMC. The concert is held by the Vietnam National Union of Students, Tuoi Tre Newspaper and Viet Vision Company, featuring 18 prominent Vietnamese artists such as Hong Nhung, Ho Ngoc Ha, Phuong Vy, Uyen Linh, Doan Trang, Ha Anh Tuan and other popular ones. With the theme of showing love for the people, the country, and for peace, the concert is aimed to send out a strong message, encouraging youth to connect with the world and most importantly, arousing the love for peace. The show is also planned to be performed in Japan this October, according to Pham Hoang Nam, director of the show. Source: VNS/VNA/VOV/VNN