Art & Entertainment News In Brief Hollywood producer visits Ngo Thanh Van’s film studio   Ngo Thanh Van and Harvey Weinstein. Ngo Thanh Van who will soon start shooting her new film Tam Cam-Chuyen Chua Ke (Tam and Cam – The Untold Story) recently received a visit from Hollywood film producer, Harvey Weinstein. On the occasion, the film studio executive offered to assist with the postproduction of the film with his crew in Los Angeles. The 90-minute movie is based on a fairy tale, Tam Cam, best known as the Vietnamese version of Cinderella. The story tells the life of a beautiful and hardworking  orphan girl named Tam, who always has a kind word for the people and animals in her life. She lives with her stepmother and a half-sister, Cam, who are always plotting for a way to bring her harm. Despite the challenges, Tam grows up and marries a King and lives happily ever after. "We have a lot riding on the success of the film and have invested a big sum of money on it,” said Van. “More than US$900,000!" The film has attracted the participation of veteran comedians Thanh Loc, Ngoc Giau, Huu Chau and young actresses Ha Vi and Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc. It is expected to screen the middle of next year. Animated short from Vietnamese director advances to Oscar shortlist "My Home" by Paris-based director Nguyen Phuong Mai has been named among 10 animated short films that will contend for Oscar nominations this year. The short, known in France as “Chez Moi,” is a 12-minute story of a boy named Hugo, who wakes up and finds black feathers all over his house. Mai told news website Zing that she finished the film last year and it was her first professional cinematic debut. She has been studying animation directing and editing since moving to France at the age of 15 years. "My Home" has been released at several film festivals and received positive reviews and has also entered the shortlist of 12 animated shorts at the César Awards, France’s highest film honor. Among the Oscar shortlist is Pixar’s “Sanjay’s Super Team" and "Bear Story," an acclaimed short from Chile. Observers noted that there are only two female directors in the shortlist. Screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December. Five nominees will be announced on January 14, before the 88th Academy Awards on February 28. Mai, who was born in Ho Chi Minh City, said her film is going to attend several more international film festivals and she cannot release it online yet. Shakespeare’s Hamlet on Vietnamese stage The Vietnam Drama Theatre recently presented a new version of Hamlet at the Hanoi Opera House. The play, which played five nights, drew a large audience. Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, has been performed countless times in the past four centuries. The tragedy, a journey to find the truth to protect people’s life and dignity retains its relevance today. The play marks the return of the Vietnam Drama Theatre, a leading theatre in Vietnam that performs the world's masterpieces. Hamlet is the first of several classics that will be performed by the Vietnam Drama Theatre this season. Nguyen Thi Cuc, an audience for one of this month’s performances, said “I’ve seen Hamlet several times, once in Russia. This is a classic play that embraces political meaning and philosophy of life. Artists of the Vietnam Drama Theater successfully performed it. It was a Vietnamese Hamlet in a contemporary style”. The Vietnamese version of Hamlet incorporates Vietnamese people’s thoughts and styles in the 21st century. The play exposes a dark corner in each person and reveals their courage to fight evil. Ta Minh, who performed the role of Hamlet, said the role was a great challenge. Hamlet, he said, is an enigma that inspires many artists. “Hamlet is close to the Vietnamese people because of cultural similarities. Asian people take sentiment, family relationships, and love very seriously. The Vietnamese version of Hamlet brings Shakespeare closer to the Vietnamese audience,” said Minh. Director Anh Tu delivers the complexity and contradictions of the play from a Vietnamese perspective to reflect people’s thoughts and styles in the 21st century. The play tells a story about good people, who are get lost but then find their way to the truth, and stand up to fight for truth and happiness. Le Quy Hien, a playwright said “The director doesn’t Vietnamise the play, but uses Vietnamese soul and thoughts to dramatize Shakespeare’s play. As a result, the Vietnamese version of the play is closer to the Vietnamese audience”. The play inspires the audience because in this version, the love between Hamlet and his mother is deeply expressed. Hidden corners in each person are reflected clearly in Hamlet – a courageous man. Hamlet has been impressively staged by the Vietnam Drama Theater. People’s Artist designer Doan Chau created a very simple but flexible stage with wooden props. The music was produced by Giang Son. Anh Tu included the traditional xuan pha dance of Thanh Hoa province in his production making it livelier, more interesting and more Vietnamese. Critic Pham Van Phuc said “Hamlet marks a new era for the Vietnam Drama Theater and has inspired a large Vietnamese audience. Shakespeare’s play was shortened from 170 pages and 21 characters to a 2-hour production. The audience was impressed by the creativity of the director and artists”. Excavation of ancient tomb made public in Binh Dinh The initial analysis of an ancient tomb excavated in An Nhon District in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh has been made known. According to archaeologists, the tomb contained a mummified man aged from 67 to 70 years old. He was believed to be Vietnamese based on the characteristics of his nasal cavity and orbit. Dr Nguyen Lan Cuong, head of the excavating team, told Viet Nam News, that the Viet Nam Institute of Archaeology decided to excavate and research this tomb as it was located in a residential area which had been reconstructed. "This area had been dug up by locals for building houses, so it was harder to study the mummy because water had leaked into the tomb," he said. "We hope we can find out more about the embalming skills and funeral processes by studying this newly-found mummy." The ancient tomb was dated back to the 19th century. The locals discovered it on October 12 when they were constructing roads for a resettlement plan. Ok-Om-Bok festival opens in Tra Vinh The Ok-Om-Bok festival , a moon worshipping ritual performed by the Khmer ethnic people, opened in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on November 20. The event includes an industrial- agricultural and trade fair featuring 400 booths of local businesses in Tra Vinh and neighboring provinces from November 20-25. The Ok Om Bok celebrations, also known as the Khmer Moon Thanksgiving Ceremony, fall on October 15 of the lunar calendar. It is a time for the Khmer to show their gratitude to the Moon Goddess for giving them a bumper harvest and rich aquatic sources. The festival will offer plenty of entertainment too, in the form of concerts and stage shows, traditional sports and games, releasing of buoyant paper lanterns into the air and on the river. The ritual moon-worship ceremony is observed in the yards of pagodas and private homes. Tra Vinh is currently home to 320,000 ethnic Khmer, accounting for 32 percent of the province’s total population. During the moon worshipping festival, Ba Om pond cultural relic site attracts thousands of local inhabitants and tourists. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the recognition of the Ok-Om-Bok festival as the 4th national intangible cultural heritage of southern Tra Vinh province in 2014. HCMC Literature & Arts Exhibition opened Exhibition “Ho Chi Minh City Literature and arts” was launched at Head Office of the HCMC Union of Literature and Arts Association, 81 Tran Quoc Thao Street, District 3, yesterday. Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan; Ms Than Thi Thu, head of HCMC Party Committee’s Department of Propaganda and Training attended the opening ceremony. Exhibition displays hundreds of literature and arts works in the 2010-2015 period focusing on the topics such as studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example; Sea & Islands and building new rural… Exhibition will last till November 27. VNS/VOV/SGGP/ND