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Show to celebrate Invalids, Martyrs Day

The boy band Oplus.

Viet Nam Television (VTV), in co-operation with its partners, will broadcast a special live programme next week to mark the 68th Day for Invalids and War Martyrs (July 27).

The 120-minute program-me will feature dozens of young and veteran singers, dancers and music players from professional art troupes.

There will also be performances in praise of the country, its history and traditional culture and lifestyle.

Featured songs will be those recognised as canons of revolutionary music written by talented composers such as Huy Du, Pham Tuyen and Nguyen Duc Toan.

The boy band Oplus will perform Toan’s Biet On Chi Vo Thi Sau (Grateful to Heroine Vo Thi Sau), a song in memory of the southern young heroine Vo Thi Sau, who died for her country when she was only at 16.

People’s Artist Tran Hieu will sing along with the pop band MTV the new version of Cung Anh Tien Quan Tren Duong Dai (We Go to the Battle Together), a work composed by Huy Du with lyrics written by Xuan Sach.

Opera singer Hong Vy of the HCM City Ballet, Symphony and Opera Orchestra will perform Tuyen’s Nhung Canh Chim Hong Gam (The Hong Gam Bird), with support from the orchestra.

The song was written in 1971 to praise heroine Le Thi Hong Gam of Tien Giang Province, who died in battle in 1970 when she was 19.

The event’s highlights include Dang Dung Viet Nam (The Posture of Viet Nam), a popular song by music professor Nguyen Chi Vu with lyrics by poet Le Anh Xuan, performed by pop star Thanh Lam and a wind orchestra.

The show will be followed by talks by history researchers, journalists and music critics.

The organisers will invite mothers of war martyrs, veterans and soldiers to participate the show, which will be broadcast live at 8pm at July 31 on VTV1 and the provinces’ TV stations.

Hungarian folk dance band to perform in Vietnam

The Hungarian folk dance band ‘4 for Dance’ will perform in Vietnam in September to mark the 65 years of Hungarian-Vietnamese diplomatic relations.

Accordingly, the band will take the stage at performances in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept 21 and in Hanoi on Sept 24.

The traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Hungary have been consolidated and developed strongly through the ups and downs of history over the last 65 years,

Recently, the relationship has developed with fruitful cooperation across many sectors including politics, economy, culture, tourism, education and training.

Musician to explain beauty of noise

Musician Kim Ngoc will hold a Q&A session with the audience on contemporary music at a show in the capital this Saturday.

The “Beauty of Noise” talk show will explain what “noise music” is and what role it plays in the musical world.

The show, which will be conducted in Vietnamese, starts at 2.30pm at Ca Phe Thu Bay, 3 Ngo Quyen Street.

Ngoc got her BA degree on Composing Music at the Viet Nam National Music Academy and took a course on spontaneous composing and performing at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne, Germany.

She is popular for her use of multimedia, combining noise, silence, music and visual arts.

Documentary on Vietnam War uses keepsakes to tell its story

A documentary film on the Vietnam War with English subtitles will begin airing on Vietnam Television this week.

The 50-minute work, titled Ky Vat Chien Tranh (War Memorabilia), was written and directed by Le Minh, a journalist and documentary filmmaker.

The work covers the war’s events and battles through keepsakes from both American and Vietnamese soldiers during the war.

To complete the film, Minh and his staff travelled around Vietnam and the US, interviewing dozens of soldiers who had kept and exchanged objects and diaries.

The film staff interviewed American veteran Bob Frasure, who had found and kept a diary written by Vietnamese war martyr Vu Dinh Doan of Hai Duong province for 40 years.

In 2012, the diary was returned to Doan’s son, who cried when he received the diary.

“I asked myself why Bob kept the diary of a Vietnamese soldier, and why he found the way to return it. I answered my questions after filming,” said director Minh, who spent four years on the film.

“Bob cried when he knew that the diary was kept by Doan’s family. He told us that finally his wish had come true, so he now can live in peace,” he recalled.

In an interview with The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper before the release of the film, Minh said he wanted to help younger generations learn more about the country and world’s history.

“Keepsakes contain moving stories that can tell us about the war and the life of soldiers,” he added.

The film will air at 9.40pm on VTV1 on July 25. It will also be broadcast on several foreign channels.

Da Nang to host Viet Nam Cuisine Festival

The 2015 Viet Nam Cuisine Festival will be celebrated at Bien Dong Park in the central city of Da Nang from August 30 to September 5.

Visitors will have a chance to try many famous traditional Vietnamese dishes as well as Da Nang specialities.

It will also be a forum for scientists, economists and farmers to meet and share information about new agricultural technologies.

Hoan Kiem Lake Cultural Information Centre open

The Hoan Kiem Lake Cultural Information Centre has been opened to provide visitors with information about the history and cultural aspects of Ha Noi’s iconic lake.

The four-storey centre at 2 Le Thai To Street has pictures and other items related to the lake.

Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple in its middle are proud symbols of the capital and authorities wanted to set up a place that would provide authentic information to visitors.

Tourism website calls Ha Noi cheapest city to visit

Ha Noi has been listed the cheapest city to visit by online tourism website .

The website studied prices in 40 popular tourism destinations around the world and found that in Ha Noi it only costs VND16 million (US$733) for three days of travel.

Visitors do not have to withdraw money from the bank, it said assuringly.

New Ha Noi, Ha Long, Sa Pa helicopter tour launches

The first ever sightseeing tour by helicopter has been launched in Ha Noi.

Operated by KLF Global Joint Stock Company and the Northern Viet Nam Helicopter Company, it flies passengers from Gia Lam Airport to nearby attractions.

Services are now available to Ha Long and Sapa.

The 90-minute Ha Noi – Ha Long trip costs US$3,600 while the three and a half hour flight to Sa Pa costs $8,400.

Ha Noi Cultural Days event organised in Thanh Hoa

The Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it would organise Ha Noi Cultural Days in the northern province of Thanh Hoa from today until next Tuesday.

The event, organised in Thanh Hoa city, Sam Son town and the districts of Yen Dinh, Hoang Hoa, and Tinh Gia, is aimed at introducing the city’s popular cultural features to people in the province as well as foreigners.

There will be a photo exhibition and street parade as well as entertainment programmes during the five-day event.

Local LGBT documentary premiered at Zanzibar Int’l Film Festival

“Red Over the Rainbow,” a documentary film depicting the first two gay pride parades in Hanoi in 2012 and 2013, known as Viet Pride, and other compelling stories from the LGBT community, was premiered on Tuesday at the ongoing Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) in Tanzania from July 18 to 26.

The movie directed by Vincent Baumont from Sorbonne, France is one of 27 documentaries screened at the East Africa’s largest film, music and arts festival.

“Red Over the Rainbow” shows the milestones of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in Vietnam. The film profiles different members of the LGBT community in Vietnam who stem from different generations, genders and backgrounds but are united in building a strong and proud community.

“Red Over the Rainbow” also sheds light on the challenges and stigma that LGBT people currently face in Vietnam while locals are still deeply anchored in family and long-held cultural traditions.

“The first gay pride in Vietnam was really important,” remarked Baumont. “It took place the same year that there was great debate in France and other countries about marriage equality.  You may think Vietnam is very conservative, but in some ways the Vietnamese may be more accepting than others. That is what made me really get into this project.”

By showcasing the life stories of gay, lesbian and transgender people in Hanoi, the documentary shows how Vietnam might well become the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage. It is a colorful and varied documentary, shot in scenic Hanoi, home of Viet Pride 2012 and 2013.

Previously, the movie was screened in Hanoi, Yangon (Myanmar), Napoli (Italy), and the U.S.

A graduate of fine arts school ENSAD and cinema university Sorbonne, Baumont is a freelance videographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam, and a founding member of the Almaz Collective, a creative team with an experimental art space. He has worked on various documentary and corporate projects, and is always ready for new artistic projects including video, contemporary art, drawing, photography and film animation. He has worked for BBC World News, French Ministry of Environment, OECD, UNICEF, Discovery Channel, WWF, French National Theater, Le Monde, East Meets West, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, and numerous art institutions and festivals.

He found video the most relevant tool to gather his ideas in one single artwork, but never gave up on other media. Artistically, his main focus is towards the urban environment, how it shapes human beings, and vice versa. His movie about urban anticipation was awarded at the next generation film festival.

Audiences can watch the movie at http://documentourhistorynow.org/all-stories/vietpride-hannoi/

Toyota concert tour to open next month

For the first time organizers of the Toyota Concert Tour will bring this show to Thanh Hoa Province this August on the occasion of National Tourism Year 2015 “Connecting World Heritages”.

Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) in cooperation with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) on Tuesday announced the “Toyota Concert Tour 2015”, the 18th annual tour.

This year, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of operation and development of TMV, besides Thanh Hoa, the tour will be organized in three other big cities with four performance nights: Hanoi (2 nights), HCMC and Danang from August 5 to 13. This is the first time for music lovers from Thanh Hoa Province to join with Toyota Concert Tour.

In 2015, with the performance of VNSO, under the baton of orchestra conductor Honna Tetsuji, with performance of famous artists such as world-class violin soloist Bui Cong Duy, saxophone artist Tran Manh Tuan and young singer Nhat Thuy, champion of Vietnam Idol 2014, Toyota Concert Tour is the combination of various types of music, and is promised to be an emotional and impressive show.

The event will feature the masterpieces of Saint Saens, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. Besides, with the first-time appearance of Tran Manh Tuan for the lyrical pieces of “White Summer”, “Butterfly Dream”, “Send the Wind for the Flying Clouds”, and also first-time appearance of young singer Nhat Thuy, the concert is expected to have a new and young image. Nhat Thuy will perform “The Land Faraway”, “The Color of Red Flower” and “The Voice of Singing in Pac Bo Forest” with romantic and magnanimous melody.

The Toyota Concert program is one of the social contribution activities which TMV has coordinated with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra to implement annually since 1998 to contribute to the development of Vietnamese culture and popular classical music, and support Vietnam Symphony Orchestra to improve performance.

VNS/VNA/SGT/VOV/ND

Art & Entertainment News 24/7

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