Art & Entertainment News 5/9 Japanese Embassy in Vietnam launches Film-making contest The ninth film-making contest organizers are working to select the most excellent work to participate the international film making contest for Asian children held in Japan. The organizers will choose 9 best entries out of 32 selected entries of Vietnamese secondary and high school students. The film contest was organized by the Japanese Embassy in coordination with Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism and the Ministry of Education & Training. 32 entries include “Tieng goi yeu thuong” (Love call) of Nguyen Hien Junior High School in Ho Chi Minh City; “ Mat na” ( the Mask) of International High School Viet-Uc ( Vietnam – Australia) in HCMC; “ Giac mo hanh phuc” ( Happy Dream) of Le Quy Don Senior High School for the gifted students in the central province of Khanh Hoa; “Chap canh” ( Giving wings ) of the Junior High School Phan Chu Trinh in Hanoi; “Hanh phu Tam Hon” ( Happy in Soul) of Senior High School Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in HCMC; “Khan quang do” ( Red Scarf) of Junior High School Tran Phu in the northern province of Hai Phong and “Mon qua” ( The Gift) of Birla Village for orphans in Hanoi. With the theme "When You Feel Happy", the contest aims to help students learn to express their opinions, nurture their dreams and try to make them come true. Contestants can submit films of three minutes in length. The 9 top selected entries will be invited to participate in the international film festival for Asian children in 2015 that is scheduled to take place on November 28 in Kitami city of Hokkaido province in Japan. Additionally, the organizers will offer 9 winner cups and certificates of merit. Those who are interested in making film can see students's awarded films at the National Cinema Center at 87 Lang Ha Street in Hanoi. Entrance fee for Hoa Lu Ancient Capital doubles The Trang An Landscape Complex Management Board has doubled the entrance fee for Hoa Lu Ancient Capital in the northern province of Ninh Binh to VND20,000 (95 US cents). Located in Hoa Lu District's Truong Yen Commune, the capital was set up by King Dinh Tien Hoang and was the capital of the first centralised feudal State in Viet Nam. The capital existed for 41 years, from 968 to 1009, under the Dinh, Early Le and Ly dynasties. In 1010, King Ly Thai To decided to move the capital to Thang Long (now Ha Noi). The ancient capital covered an area of 300 ha, including the Inner Citadel and the Outer Citadel. The citadel had splendid palaces and temples. Due to the ravages of time, there are only about 30 vestiges related to the dynasties, including the temples of King Dinh Tien Hoang and King Le Dai Hanh and Nhat Tru Pagoda. In the 17th century, the temples of King Dinh Tien Hoang and King Le Dai Hanh were rebuilt. Hoa Lu has beautiful landscapes with magnificent lime mountains and rivers. It is a popular tourism destination in Ninh Binh. Yen Bai to hold cultural and tourism weeks Nghia Lo Town, Mu Cang Chai, Van Chan and Tram Tau districts in the northwest province of Yen Bai will hold cultural and tourism weeks from September 12-20. Nghia Lo will organise the Muong Lo cultural and tourism week from September 12-16. The week highlights include a ceremony to honour xoe dances of Thai ethnic minority, a buffalo fighting contest, a culinary contest and a trade, tourism and food fair. Xoe dances in Nghia Lo's Muong Lo are performed by men and women holding hands to form a circle. The dance has been listed as a national intangible cultural heritage. From September 17-20, Mu Cang Chai District will hold a cultural and tourism week with several activities, including a goat-fighting contest, Mong pan pipe contest, a highland market fair and eco-biology tours. The province residents include many ethnic minorities like the Thai, Tay, Hung La and Ha Nhi. Among the sightseeing areas is the San Tuyet ancient tea tree area, covering 300ha in Nghia Lo's Suoi Giang area. Many of the tea trees are more than 300 years old. Now is ideal time to visit Yen Bai as it is the rice harvest season. The terraced fields in Nghia Lo's Muong Lo and Mu Cang Chai District look picturesque. Da Nang features traditional boats The teams of Hoa Hiep Bac and Hai Chau won the men's and women's titles, respectively, at the Traditional Boat Race on the Han River on Wednesday. The annual race, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of National Day, drew more than 250 paddlers from 12 teams in Da Nang and Quang Nam, competing in the men's 7.5km and the women's 5km events. Members of the city's water sports club also demonstrated their skills in water-skiing, jet-skiing and surfing on Wednesday. An exhibition of the 41 best entries of the photo contest, My Da Nang, opened at Dragon Bridge Park on the banks of the River Han on the same day. The exhibition will end on Sunday. Season 2 of popular sitcom to air The second season of the sitcom about youth looking for girlfriends or boyfriends will air on YanTV channel starting today. Sixteen episodes of Chien Dich Chong E 2 (Campaign to Prevent from Being Left on the Shelf 2) will be broadcast from 8.30pm on the channel every Thursday and Friday from today. The series is produced by Yan Production. "If the first season reveals stories about tricks of girls to escape from being single, the second season will turn to boys," said Dinh Ha Uyen Thu, director of the sitcom, at a recent press conference. Besides the foursome of the first season – actresses Si Thanh, Dieu Nhi, Yaya Truong Nhi, and actor Minh Anh — the second sees the participation of actor Hieu Nguyen and two young actors Ly Binh and La Thanh. Hieu is well-known from his films like director Cuong Ngo's Huong Ga (Rise) and director Nguyen Phan Quang Binh's Quyen. All episodes were staged at a beautiful resort in the coastal resort town of Mui Ne in Binh Thuan Province, and at modern and nice coffee shops, restaurants, and a famous sport centre in HCM City. TV series on ethnic Chinese begins A TV series on ethnic Hoa (Vietnamese of Chinese origin) living in HCM City's District 5, commonly known as Cho Lon or Chinatown, has been broadcast on Ho Chi Minh Television (HTV). The 32-part series, titled The Khong Guc Nga (Unbreakable), was directed by Nguyen Minh Cao, one of the city's talented TV producers, who has more than 15 years in the industry. Its screenplay was written by famous author Bui Anh Tan, deputy-in-chief of the HCM City Police newspaper. The film focuses on a son of a businessman who moved from Hong Kong to live in Sai Gon (now HCM City) before 1975. Long, played by movie star and fashion model Binh Minh, faces challenges to find the right way to develop his father's business. The film's producer, Bach Viet Phuong Nam, spent nearly VND7 billion (US$311,000) on the film. The series has been broadcast from Monday to Thursday, beginning yesterday, at 8pm on HTV7. Animation movie screening at L'Espace The animation Mune: Guardian of the Moon, which had world premiered in March, is being screened daily at the L'Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street, until September 13. Based on an original story by Benoit Philippon, who directed with Alexandre Heboyan, the movie is set in an imaginary universe, where the sun and the moon must be protected by guardians. Mune, a small and candid forest faun who is a free-spirited dreamer, is unexpectedly selected to be the new guardian of the moon, a heavy responsibility that leads him to discover his supernatural power. As the sun is captured by the lord of the underworld, Mune embarks on an epic journey with Sohone, the guardian counterpart, and Glim, a young girl made of wax, to rescue the sun and save the planet from chaos and darkness. A production of the DreamWorks Animation, the movie is being screened with Vietnamese dubbing and English subtitles. Ticket costs VND60,000 and are available at L'Espace. Little book cafes to celebrate birthday Bookworm – a favourite book cafe of many Ha Noi's residents – will celebrate its birthday on Sunday, September 6. To mark its double milestone – 14 years in Ha Noi and five years in new location on Chau Long Street – the book cafe will celebrate with an afternoon of cool contemporary music from 2.30pm to 4.30pm and free Sangria cocktail. Especially, all books and merchandise at both Bookworm outlets will be discounted from 15-20 per cent. Bookworm is located at 44 Chau Long Street, Ba Dinh District. Cargo Bar hosts rock concert The HCM City-based rock band Black Infinity will host a rock concert to promote its debut music film called We Are Legend at Cargo Bar on September 5. The heavy metal band will be supported by four local rock bands including 9th Dimension, Bui Gio, Rotten Red Machine and Razor Leaf. Formed in 2006, the six-member Black Infinity has released two albums and a documentary DVD titled Rising from the Dark. The show will begin at 7pm at 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4. Tickets are VND100,000 (US$5) including one free drink. Stand-up Saigon comedians at Spotted Cow Stand-up Saigon, a group of expatriate comedians in HCM City, will present a comedy show at the Spotted Cow on September 5. The show will start at 8.30pm at 111 Bui Vien Street in District 1. Tickets are VND50,000 ($2.5). Northeastern region's cultural fest to feature games, exhibitions Hundreds of people from 10 provinces will participate in various entertainment activities that will be held as part of the ninth Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival of the northeastern region. The event will be held in Bac Kan Province from September 10 to 12. The "Northestern Region: Convergence, Solidarity and Development" festival will be attended by participants from the provinces of Phu Tho, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Cao Bang, as well as Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Bac Giang and Quang Ninh, besides Vinh Phuc. Various traditional customs and festivals of the ethnic groups in these provinces will be presented at the venue, while a mass art festival will be organised. A traditional costume show will also be a highlight, along with an exhibition of traditional cuisine, other forms of cultural heritage as well as the area's tourism potential. A trade fair will promote local agricultural products and a workshop on tourism in the region will be held. Folk games such as tug-of-war, crossbow and mini football will be organised. "This is an important cultural event that aims to introduce local cultural heritage as well the tourism potential to both domestic and international visitors," Hoang Duc Hau, head of the culture ministry's ethnic culture department, said. "The event will also help preserve and promote the traditional identity of the ethnic groups, while enhancing solidarity among the people in the region," he said. Canadian expert’s book about Dalat history translated into Vietnamese Hoa Sen University and Hong Duc Publishing House have released the Vietnamese edition of the book “Imperial Heights: Dalat and the Making and Undoing of French Indochina” by Eric T. Jennings, a historical expert of Canada’s Victoria University. The book, which was translated from English into Vietnamese by Pham Viem Phuong and Bui Thanh Chau, and revised by Tran Duc Tai, is about the 100-year history of the Central Highlands city that has become a kitsch tourist destination famed for its French-architecture villas, flower beds, pristine lakes, and pastoral landscapes. Jennings found that from its very beginning, Dalat embodied the paradoxes of colonialism - it was a city of leisure built on the backs of thousands of coolies, a supposed paragon of hygiene that offered only questionable protection from disease, and a new venture into ethnic relations that ultimately backfired, according to Amazon.com. Jennings spent ten years studying materials and documents on different aspects including culture, architecture, geography, religion, health and medicine of Dalat City in five countries to finish his book. For Vietnamese people, the book is a valuable material providing much basic knowledge about the history of Dalat which. For the good source of material about Dalat, the book is new and interesting findings about the city, even for Vietnamese experts, especially with its approaches to the correlation between Dalat with other resort areas around Asia, and the disagreement about the plan to develop Dalat and its architecture in 1930s, or the attraction of Dalat for local people after French people made efforts to turn it into a colonial city. Jennings, 40, is a professor of history at Victoria University at the University of Toronto, specializing in modern French colonialism. “Imperial heights: Dalat and the making and undoing of French Indochina” was published the first time in 2011 by University of California Press. Hanoi’s old book festival attracts book lovers The third old book festival of Hanoi opened at No.176 Thai Ha Street, Hanoi on August 29 with 20 booths of 12 publishing houses as well as scores of book collectors and old bookstores. The two-day festival continues to be a cultural space for book lovers with many famous old bookstores present. On this occasion, the Alpha Book Company, together with two other publishing houses, will display 2,000 books for sale for reading enthusiasts while connecting readers with old book collectors and businesses through collecting readers’ order forms at the event and sending them to publishing houses and book collectors. A channel is also expected to be estalished in order to help readers exchange information on exchanging and sharing old books. Book lovers can find rare and noteworthy books in the genres of literature, foreign languages, history, geography, medical science, economics and education at attractive prices from VND10,000-15,000 each. According to the event’s organising board, seminars similar to those at the previous festival are not taking place due to limited space and will instead be held in March 2016. Dak Lak hosts Vietnam-Japan cultural exchange programme A Vietnam-Japan cultural exchange was held at the Tay Nguyen University in Buon Ma Thuot city of the Central Highlands province Dak Lak on September 4. The event attracted the participation of representatives from the Central Highlands Steering Committee, the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, local agencies and departments, and nearly 500 students from the university. Organised by the Vietnam-Dak Lak Friendship Association’s Dak Lak’s chapter, the programme honoured the 42nd anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan (September 21) and aimed to strengthen bonds between the two countries’ people while disseminating thel unique and diversified culture of ethnic groups in Dak Lak. The event was also expected to open cooperation possibilities in culture and economy between Japan and Dak Lak and other Central Highlands provinces. It featured various art performances by Vietnamese and Japanese artists, a quiz on the two countries’ culture for students, plus a Japanese tea ceremony. VNS/SGT/ND/VNA