Japanese film fest embraces passion

Japanese Film Festival 2014 will satisfy the passion of Japanese film fans in Viet Nam with eight movies under the common theme of Passion.

The event will take place on October 10-19 in Ha Noi, from October 31 to November 2 in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and on November 14-16 in Da Nang City.

Audience will enjoy various Japanese passions in these films, a passion that looks comical, a passion keeping their determination quietly or a passion to fight toward better future.

The festival's opener is Robo-G (directed by Shinobu Yaguchi in 2012) which was already screened in some cities in Viet Nam and got many laugh and a favourable reception. Comical scientists, their passion for science, and a strange robot who's actually a real old man will make audience burst out laughing.

In One Million Yen Girl, Suzuko Sato, 21, decides to leave her family to begin a journey and promises herself to stick with one rule: once she saves up a million yen, she must leave for another town. Whenever someone gets too close with her and a relationship seems to begin, it's time to leave, she packs her bags and departs for another destination.

Audience will enjoy the imposing beauty of Japanese mountains through scenes in Peak – The Rescuers, and also understand the work of mountain rescue volunteers as well as an unimaginable menace in the mountain snow.

Passion, the festival theme, is also expressed through other films; Tomorrow's Joe with boxers' spirit; In His Chart telling story of Dr Ichito Kurihara, a busy physician; Shodo Girls reporting a calligraphy competition; Feeling the Wind featuring enthusiastic young men with passion for marathon; and Bushido Sixteen, a story of kendo fighters.

All films will be screened with both English and Vietnamese sub-title. Free tickets can be collected at the Japan Foundation in Ha Noi from September 27. Audience in Vung Tau and Da Nang can contact Dien Bien and Le Do cinemas, respectively, for tickets.

This is one of the most anticipated annual events of the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange in Viet Nam.

Fireworks teams chosen for Da Nang Int'l Fireworks Fest

Teams from the US, South Africa, Australia, Poland and Viet Nam will compete in the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition.

The event will be held from April 29 to May 3, 2015.

Head of the culture-society office under the city's administration Hoang Son Tra said, "It will be the first time that we will be hosting a competition that will have five teams representing the five continents of America, Africa, Europe, Oceania and Asia."

"We hope to host a colourful world fireworks competition in its seventh edition," he added.

Da Nang, which is the only city in Viet Nam to host the annual competition since 2008, is scheduled to organise the event biennially from 2015.

Last year, Melrose Pyrotechnics of the US won the first prize.

Hoi An runs bamboo bikes

Vo Tan Tan, a craftsman in Cam Thanh village in suburban Hoi An, will introduce a bamboo bicycle tour next month.

The first-ever tour in Hoi An, the tour members will go through the village on prototypes of bicycles made mostly of bamboo and produced by the village craftsmen.

Cam Thanh is the first village in Viet Nam to produce bamboo bicycles with traditional processing methods.

The village is known as a crafts village and is a favoured eco-tourism destination that has 30ha of nipa palm forests and handicrafts made of palm and bamboo.

Hoi An aims to promote cycling as part of a plan to build the first eco-city in Viet Nam.

Thu An wins Do Re Mi

Eight-year-old Vu Thu An has won the eighth Do Re Mi (children's singing contest).

The final round of the contest and the awards ceremony took place on Sunday evening.

An, from the northern province of Quang Ninh, won the jury's and the audience's hearts with her high pitch and skilled performance.

The second prize went to Hai Nam, 5, from the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

The two competitors were required to sing a Vietnamese song and an international song on the final night.

"The two songs that An sang, namely Loi Me Hat (Mother Singing) and Tomorrow, are difficult for a little girl like her. However, she dominated the stage and shone like a professional singer," said composer Phuong Uyen, a member of the jury.

The Do Re Mi singing contest is a meaningful and interesting summer activity for children. Thousands of children registered to participate in the qualifying rounds, which were held in six cities and provinces across three regions of the country.

Master Chef shocks audiences with brutality

Many viewers were shocked at an episode of Master Chef,  aired on Vietnam Television (VTV), in which contestants slaughtered animals on television to prepare their dishes.

This particular episode of Master Chef was broadcast on VTV3 on September 20. Contestants were required to decide on a dish to cook and create it from beginning to end, including butchering any animals needed.

One contestant named Khanh Phuong decided to use a soft-shell turtle as part of her recipe. The entire process of her struggling to kill the animal was included in the programme.

“As I was doing it I wanted to cry because I did not know how to properly kill the animal. But if I didn't, I would've had to quit the show. So I just tried my best,” said Phuong after the show.

Many members of the public scandalised, calling the scene “savage” and “unsuitable for  television”.

“While people publicly criticise the slaughter of pets like cats and dogs, this type of thing is outrageous to be broadcasting to millions of homes. It may be normal in the family kitchen, but is unacceptable for a television show,” said one viewer.

Others said the scene terrified them and they turned the show off as soon as they saw what was happening.

“If I was that contestant, I would not have cooperated,” said another viewer.

U.S. choreographer to give contemporary dance lecture

U.S. choreographer and solo dancer Emily Navarra will lecture at a workshop ‘Shhhh, Just Dance!’ at ZeroStation in HCMC’s District 7 from October 4, 5, 11 and 12.

Choreographic moves can be used by people to share emotions, so the workshop will highlight and investigate basic skills of couple and group dances through floor-work, improvisation and choreography with any objects in an open space. The short course is also for fresh dancers of contemporary dance as well as beginners of ballet who want to explore themselves and exchange with experienced ones.

Navarra earned a B.A. Dance Studies at the University of South Florida. Her work as a freelance artist has been presented in the U.S., the UK, Europe and North Africa as well as South East Asia. In Saigon, just like many other indie artists, she has a job as an English teacher to support herself.

She is also the organizer of the Melting Pot Art Festival and Standpoint Theories art show, which is aimed at bringing together the scattered scenes of music, dance and visual arts in the city and building a bridge between the arts scenes in the country’s two biggest cities – HCMC and Hanoi.

The workshop is slated for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and costs VND400,000 per person. Enthusiasts can register by emailing to [email protected] or [email protected] or call Tin on 0126 392 8955.

‘Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance’

The dance show ‘Scarabé’ by Swedish dancers Virpi Pahkinen and Fredrick Quinones will take place on September 24 and 25 at the Youth Theater to mark the opening of the ‘Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance’ program.

Scarabé, inspired by the ancient Egyptian scarab beetle, is a symbol of transformation. The beetle seems to appear from nowhere, traveling through the deserts to look for a memory field.

Scarabé has its world premiere in August 2012 at the Helsinki Festival Savoy Theater in Finland.

Virpi Pahkinen, born in Finland, studied piano at the Conservatory in Helsinki and choreography at the University College of Dance in Stockholm.

She has successfully traveled to more than 45 countries as choreographer and solo dancer.

Fredrik Quinones, who studied in Sweden and the Netherlands, has worked in a variety of productions, and won many prizes at international dance contests.

The ‘Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance’ event is an initiative of EUNIC, the Network of European Cultural Institutes and Embassies in Hanoi, in cooperation with the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet (VNBO) and the Goethe Institute.

In the five-evening event, audiences will experience contemporary dance repertoires from dancers from seven countries, including Belgium (Wallonie-Bruxelles), France, Japan, Sweden, Finland and Vietnam. In addition, there will be one German-Vietnamese and one Belgian-Vietnamese co-production.

Nearly US$8 mln in foreign aid for Hue heritage preservation

Since its UNESCO recognition as a World Cultural Heritage in 1993, the former imperial city of Hue has received over US$7.9 million from foreign governments and organizations to preserve the relic site.

According to the Hue Relics Conservation Centre, the UNESCO international fund has granted US$29,930 for a Hue heritage preservation project in the 2014-2015 period, while the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) donated US$729,084 for two projects on restoring Hue royal citadel complex from 2013 to 2014.

Other aid providers include the Rhone Polenc Chemicals Co. of France (US$1 million) to preserve Hien Lam Pavilion and Royal Palace; Vietnam-France Codev Association (US$124,000); Japan Trust Fund (US$100,000); Lao Government; British Embassy; and 10 other UK firms.

Many countries, including Poland, Germany and Japan, and international organizations sent experts and provided technical assistance to preserve cultural heritage sites in Hue.

Hue Relics Conservation Centre Director Phan Thanh Hai said as many as 132 major works and items in the Hue heritage complex have been restored since it was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.

Since January 2014, Hue city has welcomed more than 1,5 million tourists, generating revenue of over VND107 billion, up 10.5% compared to the same period last year, he reported.

VNS/Dantri/SGGP/SGT