Art & Entertainment News in Brief Budweiser MADE For Music 2015 kicks-off Budweiser today officially launched MADE for Music’s series of activities in Vietnam to celebrate music globally with the comeback of BUDJs – an annual event that Budweiser organises for EDM (electronic dance music) fans. This year, the competition’s scale has increased to a whole new level with participation from 30 of Vietnam’s most talented DJs. These BUDJs will undergo extensive training and face off in various events before one DJ is ultimately crowned “BUDJ 2015”, based on the votes from millions of fans nationwide. The BUDJs 2015 competition promises to fuel up the entire EDM community in Vietnam. Through online voting, fans can support BUDJs throughout the competition and choose the winner out of a total 30 BUDJs. Upon launching online, the competition’s official website www.budjs.com hosts the contestants’ profiles, event highlights, fan activities and more. Here, fans can vote for up to five of their favorite BUDJs to ensure they remain in the running to becoming the winner of BUDJs 2015. Voting will open from October 2, 2015 through to December 13, 2015. The voting process will consist of consecutive phases, through which Budweiser will be able to identify the best BUDJs based on fans’ votes to come into Top 12, Top 4 and Finale. Participating in the competition, nominated BUDJs will receive advice on their performances and skills through training sessions with international experts. Furthermore, they will also have several chances to showcase their performing talent and personal style in order to win over the public. Globally, Budweiser MADE for Music has always been accompanied by the world’s top DJs, including DJ TIESTO (ranked fifth internationally) – the official ambassador of Budweiser’s global MADE For Music platform. Also under this platform, a series of large-scale EDM events are promised by Budweiser for Vietnamese EDM-lovers to enjoy the best international EDM experiences. Joining in BUDJs 2015, the top BUDJs will receive valuable prizes, including VIP experiences at Asia’s biggest music festival Budweiser STORM held in November 2015, trip to the world’s largest EDM festival Tomorrowland 2016 in Brazil, as well as chances to shine on stage with the world’s top DJs in a series of iconic music events. In particular, Budweiser will give five lucky fans the chance to participate in the Tomorrowland Brasil festival next year when voting for BUDJs 2015 through www.budjs.com. Tomorrowland is well known for being one of the most iconic EDM festivals in the world. BUDJs 2015 promises to be epic, providing thousands of Vietnamese EDM-lovers with amazing performances from the best DJ talent locally and internationally. The whole competition will be filmed and uploaded onto several media channels both offline and online, with MTV and BUDJs’s official website (www.budjs.com) being the main channels. Furthermore, new information about the competition will be updated weekly on MTV’s media channels. Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the owner of Budweiser brand, is the world’s largest brewer and one of the world’s top five consumer products companies. Geographically diversified with a balanced exposure to developed and developing markets, AB InBev leverages the collective strengths of its approximately 155,000 employees based in 25 countries worldwide. In 2014, AB InBev realised $47.1 billion revenue. Photo exhibition shows village life A photo exhibition entitled Ki Uc Lang (Village Memory) by photographer Nguyen Huu Bao is being held at Hang Da Gallerie. About 64 photos of Vietnamese villages in the Hong (Red) River Delta, the coastal area, the northern region and the Central Highland of Viet Nam are being exhibited. The photos, portraying scenes from the daily lives of Vietnamese farmers, have been being taken by Bao since 1993. "I take photos of everything that moves me," Bao said. "The maximum photos are of the Red River Delta region because I love and understand it most. It is a cradle of Vietnamese village life and Vietnamese culture as well." There is one photo of a bomb's shell from the war period hanging in Diem Temple in Diem Village, an ancient place of quan ho (love duet), in the northern Bac Ninh Province. It shows a contrast that Bao wants to focus on. "The shell is now a bell hanging in such a spiritual place. People think it is normal," Bao said. The photo will be presented to Nhip Cau Hoang Sa (Paracel Bridge) Fund for auction, the proceeds of which will be used to build houses for martyrs' families. The black and white photos at the exhibition were not staged. Bao observed and shot precious moments spontaneously and candidly during his trips to each corner of the country. Most of the photos are close-ups and medium shots, highlighting the lives of the villages and their people. Born to an urban family, Bao has spent more than 30 years working with a camera. He has held many solo and group exhibitions, including one in Paris on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the friendship between Viet Nam and France in 2014. "To understand Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people, you should understand the villages," artist Le Thiet Cuong says in the introduction to the exhibition. "Photographer Bao gives diversified perspectives on the village stories. His memories about villages through 64 photos tell different stories about them, involving happiness, sadness, separations or meetings." A book, also entitled Ki Uc Lang, by Bao was released on this occasion. The exhibition will run till October 15. Female filmmaker in Love Triangle Director, producer and actress Viet Trinh of HCM City is taking a closer look at her production's success, Trot Yeu (Love Triangle), as films about love have become popular at the box office. To be released for Halloween, Trot Yeu is directed by Trinh, who was known as the "Queen of Box Office" in the 1990s, also plays a leading role in the film. The film depicts a romantic relationship involving Huy, a businessman, his wife Vy (played by Trinh), and his lover Uyen. Huy, despite money and fame, feels lonely at home, but after meeting Uyen at his office he falls in love with her. "My film is a romantic love story," Trinh said. One of the country's very few female directors, Trinh believes younger audiences need serious but entertaining films. "Young moviegoers can see themselves and learn a valuable lesson from Trot Yeu, that love is a great thing and we need to be honest and brave to face it," she said. Trinh has invited fashion model Duc Hai, who runs a company in fashion and modelling, to play Huy along with young actress Khanh My (Uyen). Trinh received the role of Vy after spending a cast. "I'm confident about performing in my film after 10 years leaving the screen," said the 43-year-old Trinh, who had a leading role in more than 30 films and TV series. Other roles in the film are played by veteran actors such as Cat Phuong, Trung Dan, Phi Phung and Kieu Mai Ly. The film's soundtracks are performed by Trung Quan, a music idol. "I'm not sure how Trot Yeu will succeed at the box office. But I believe the film is one that young people, particularly women, will want to watch," she said. Like Trinh, the film's female producer Chau Tho is determined to take the local film market to a new frontier by producing entertaining and commercially viable movies. Spending more than VND10 billion (US$445,000) to make the film, both Tho and Trinh believe it was not a risk. "We want to change our own direction to create films that lure audiences, particularly youth. We can't fully develop the film industry without producing hit movies," said Tho. Trot Yeu will compete against the American horror film Goosepump on October 16, which is being released on Halloween. French centre screens VN documentary The screening of Vietnamese documentary Cuoc Doi Sau Trang Sach will launch the Sunday Docs programme of documentary screenings at the French Cultural Centre in Ha Noi. Cuoc Doi Sau Trang Sach (The Lives Behind the Book) is a 53-minute documentary directed by Phan Huyen Thu. She shows some slices of life from the lives of five Vietnamese people, each of them facing different difficulties but all bound by the love for writing and the Vietnamese language. The Sunday Docs programme is being jointly held by the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD) and the French Cultural Centre. Twice a month, outstanding documentaries such as The Lives Behind The Book, Luon O Ben Con ( Always Beside You), La Cour de Babel (School of Babel) and Il etait Une Foret (Once Upon A Forest), as well as Comment J'ai Deteste Les Maths (How I Came To Hate Math) by Vietnamese and French filmmakers, will be screened for movie buffs. Filmmakers will have meetings and talks after the screenings. Paintings based on stamps exhibited An exhibition inspired by stamps in Ha Noi has been showcasing 40 paintings by Hoang Thuy Lieu, who once worked at the Viet Nam Post. The painter created these paintings based on stamps issued by the Viet Nam Post. Each stamp is a work of art that she has enlarged, allowing viewers to enjoy the stories therein in a different way. "Each tiny stamp contains information on remarkable cultural, historical events," Lieu said. "Thus, stamps can tell many stories of the past." The exhibition also introduced the stamp collections of Vu Van Ty, former director of Viet Nam Stamps Company, who also wanted to share his knowledge of stamps with people. The exhibition will run until tomorrow at the Exhibition House, 45 Trang Tien Street, Ha Noi. VN photo exhibition hosted in Germany An exhibition showcasing photos and documents on Hoang Sa (the Paracel) and Truong Sa (the Spratly) Islands in the East Sea was held at the Cultural Center of Jahrhunderthalle Bochum in Germany recently. The photos by Nguyen Van Cuong, a Vietnamese living in Berlin, document his journey to the islands in May and feature the hard daily lives and training sessions of Vietnamese naval forces on the islands. In addition to his photos, many documents, books, CDs and maps proving Viet Nam's sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands were on display. The exhibition was an opportunity for the Vietnamese community in Germany, as well as international travelers, to learn about daily life on the islands while reviewing important documents and maps about Viet Nam's sovereignty. This is the second exhibition of its kind organised by Cuong in Germany. The first one was held in Berlin in July. European experts give insight into paper-based work restoration The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum and the Goethe Institute opened a training course on restoring works on paper under the instruction of European experts in Hanoi on October 5. The five-day course, part of cooperation between the museum and Germany’s Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, aims to help those working in the field improve their professional knowledge about and skills in restoring drawings and documents made of paper – a material susceptible to environmental changes. Participants are staff members of the museum, national museums based in Hanoi, some provincial museums and the State Records Management and Archives Department of Vietnam along with representatives of fine arts universities, libraries and relic sites. Experts presenting the special paper conservation techniques are Dr Andrea Pataki-Hundt from the State Academy of Art and Design in Germany’s Stuttgart, and conservator Ines Jesche from the State Archives of the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland. Director of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum Phan Van Tien said his museum is currently home to nearly 5,000 paper-based works, including those aged at least 50 years that have been damaged by changes in the weather and poor conservation conditions. He hoped that training would help staff members revive valuable works of art. Cooperation between the museum and the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts has featured a number of activities since 2013, such as training courses on the restoration of oil paintings and wooden objects in Vietnam and Germany. Exhibition on Hoang Sa, Truong Sa opens in Hoa Binh Nearly 100 maps and a series of documents, publications and objects proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos are on display at an exhibition in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh. The exhibits are in the Han (classical Chinese), Vietnamese and French languages issued by Vietnamese feudal states, the French government in Indochina (on behalf of the then Vietnamese state) and other foreign countries since the 16th century. All pieces on display affirm that Vietnam has established and exercised its rightful sovereignty over the two archipelagos. Among them are four atlases and 30 maps officially published by the Chinese governments through historical eras defining Hainan Island as China’s southernmost tip. The exhibition, co-organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the provincial People’s Committee, aims to raise public awareness, especially among the youth, about protecting and affirming the country’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. Speaking at the opening ceremony on October 5, MIC Deputy Minister Pham Hong Hai said that the exhibition is expected to help international friends, including Chinese people, understand the real situation in the East Sea as well as the legitimate aspirations of the Vietnamese Party, State and people for peace and stability in the East Sea to serve national development. The display will run until October 9. Book presents detailed description of Da Lat under French rule The English language book “Imperial Heights” on Da Lat city by Canadian author Eric T. Jennings has been translated into Vietnamese, providing the most detailed and comprehensive ever insight into the resort city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The book, entitled in Vietnamese as “Dinh cao de quoc – Da Lat va su hung vong cua Dong Duong thuoc Phap” (Imperial Heights – Da Lat and the Making and Undoing of French Indochina), was the focus of a talk held in Da Lat city on October 3. The original book was published by the University of California Press in 2011. Eric T. Jennings, born in 1970, is currently a professor of history at Canada’s University of Toronto and also an expert on the French colonial history. At first, he did not intend to write about Da Lat, but during 10 years of searching libraries in Vietnam, France, the UK, the US and Switzerland to learn about the French colonialism, he discovered that the French colonialists placed an extremely great ambition on the city located in the hills of central Vietnam. Tran Duc Tai, the Vietnamese version’s editor and also a Da Lat resident, said he came across “Imperial Heights” on the internet and was surprised that it covers everything about Da Lat and was written by a foreign historian, which is unprecedented. Deemed as an encyclopedia on Da Lat, it offers exhaustive details on the formation of the city under the French rule from political, economic, military, planning, educational, religious and tourism dimensions, he said, adding that Jennings provided a myriad of new information that cannot be found in documents kept in Vietnam. Through this book, readers will not only find arguments on why French colonialists put their global ambition on Da Lat but also learn about the mistaken views about Da Lat of the city’s discoverer Alexandre Yersin and historical events that happened in the city. Passionate 2015 Lam Kinh Festival The 2015 Lam Kinh Festival opened on October 4 at the Lam Kinh historical site in Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. This year’s festival commemorates the 597th anniversary of the Lam Son Uprising; 587 years since King Le Thai To was enthroned; and his 582nd death anniversary. The event drew the participation of delegates from ministries, departments and provincial offices as well as thousands of local people and tourists from across the country, who flocked to the historical site of Lam Kinh in Tho Xuan district to pay tribute to the Le Kings. The ceremony featured a variety of traditional rituals in commemoration of the Vietnamese ancestors. In addition to the traditional ceremony, art performances were organised, which re-enacted important historical events in the ten-year resistance war against the Ming invaders, including the ceremony when Le Loi and his soldiers took their fighting vows, Le Loi’s battles and his coronation. The festival also featured a series of art performances and folk games. The annual festival honours national hero Le Loi, also known as Le Thai To, the first king of the Vietnamese Le dynasty, as well as the heroes and civilians who joined the Lam Son Uprising against the Chinese Ming invaders to take back national independence. The 2015 Lam Kinh Festival is part of activities to celebrate the 2015 National Tourism Year – Thanh Hoa. The event is expected to contribute to promoting the beautiful image of Thanh Hoa’s landscape and people. ‘Trace The Mountain’ Venue: Nha San Collective, 15th floor of HNCC Building, 1 Luong Yen, Hanoi A solo exhibition by one of Japan’s most promising young artists, Taihei Kimura, presenting his past works and the new project he realized in Vietnam. Continuing his interest of conversing with the past, tracing the transformation of environment - resource depletion, moreover learning personal and collective's memories and history, Taihei Kimura has travelled to Hanoi, Quang Tri and Quang Ninh for research and filming. His work allows the audience to think of the past remain and contemplate the relationships between human and nature, the contradiction between construction and deconstruction as well as the vulnerability of our every day existence. Nha San is pleased to invite you to a solo exhibition ‘Trace The Mountain’ by artist Taihei Kimura at 6:00pm, Thursday 17 September 2015 at Nha San’s new space at Taihei Kimura will also talk about his practices at 4pm, Thursday 17th September 2015. ‘Hai Au - 25 years of a Journey’ Venue: HCMC Women's Cultural House, 188 Ly Chinh Thang, District 3, HCMC. The Hai Au Female Photographers Club will hold a photo exhibition in HCMC, Hue, and Hanoi to celebrate its 25th anniversary, called ‘Hai Au - 25 years of a Journey’. The Hai Au Club is well-known as the most famous women’s photography club in Vietnam with many photographers who have won international and local prizes.  Members include both professional and amateur photographers in different careers but with the same passion for photography. The exhibition will display about 68 photos by 17 female photographers, including Thi Tho, Dao Hoa Nu, Pham Thi Kim Thanh, Nguyen Thi Sin, Thu Ba, Do Ngoc, and Hong Nga. Through the exhibition, the audience can enjoy the life, the people, and the beauty of nature in Vietnam. The exhibition will also present a photo book featuring 150 photos from 17 photographers in the club. The photo exhibition also takes place from 19 to 29 October at the Vietnam Women’s Museum (36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi) and from 17 to 27 October at the Hue Literature and Art Association (26 Le Loi, Hue). Photo exhibition celebrates Venezuelan women's achievements Dozens of photos depicting the key roles played by Venezuelan women in the development of society are on display in an exhibition in downtown Ha Noi. Entitled Venezuelan Women and the Development of Socialism in the 21st Century, the photo exhibition shows images of Venezuelan women doing their daily work in various fields such as agriculture, industry, culture and arts, besides education, diplomacy, politics and even in the military field. "This photo exhibition highlights the achievements of the Bolivarian process in gender relations, equality and protection of the family as the fundamental unit of society," Jorge Rondon Uzcategui, Venezuelan Ambassador to Viet Nam, said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition yesterday. "Women in Venezuela, especially those of the poorest sectors, have historic responsibilities to lead the family, because they now have more and better strategies and tools of resistance and liberation." He said the struggle for equality and dignity of women was a task for everyone, and that men and women together should raise their voices for the right of women to live in dignity, free from want and free from fear, for gender equality and empowerment of women, as well as for a more just and democratic society. Hoang Thi Ai Nhien, deputy chairperson of Viet Nam Women's Union, said though the exhibition didn't have a large number of photos, it helped the viewer to get an overview of Venezuelan women's contributions to the country's development. She said the Venezuelan embassy in Ha Noi should act as a bridge to present Vietnamese women and Vietnamese people in a photo exhibition on Vietnamese women in Venezuela. The photo exhibition on Venezuelan women will run at the Viet Nam Women Museum, 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ha Noi, till October 15.  VNS/VOV/VNA/ND/The Guide