Short films displayed at Himiko Cafe

Himiko Visual Café will host a week of short films called “The beginning frames” by young director Tran Ly Tri Tan from February 17 to 25. There will be a party on opening night starting at 6pm at Himiko Café, 324Bis Dien Bien Phu Street, District 10, HCMC. Four short films and a trailer will be shown in the following week from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. All will have English subtitles.

Tran Ly Tri Tan born 1982, a 2009 graduate of HCMC University of Theater & Cinema, made the short films about people that inspire him.

“I’m obsessed with many things in this life: a handicapped prostitute, a barber working in a hospital, a boy with a dream about magic, a bald visual artist… Those obsessions demand expression and I retell the stories in the film frames. I call them the beginning frames.”

The movies have all been made since 2008.  “Cut” (Cat) – the film about a life of a barber - was screened at the San Diego Asian Film Festival (US) and “The boy who saw fire” (Dua be nhin thay lua) – a documentary about the visual artist Nguyen Kim Hoang – appeared at the International Film Schools Festival (France) in 2009.

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Yxine short-film winners announced

Director Do Dang Thuong (L) receives a cash prize from the Yxine Film Fest for his film “The Journey Unknown” - Photo: Courtesy of the organizer

A five-minute film by a young Vietnamese American, Vu Quang Huy, won four prizes including best director and best actor at the Yxine Film Fest, an online short-film competition, on Sunday in HCMC.

The winners of the contest that opened in May were announced at the website www.yxine.com.

Huy’s film, “Thinking of You”, was also granted the Golden Heart Award and Best Cinematographer by the five member jury: director Viet Linh, director Nguyen Quang Dung, journalist Le Hong Lam, critic Nguyen Thanh Son and novelist Ho Anh Thai.

“The Journey Unknown” by Do Dang Thuong won best screenplay and best editor. “L.O.V.E” by Vu Ngoc Phuong won the Red Heart Award voted by the audience. “Up in the Tree” by Bui Quoc Thang received New Heart Award for emerging directors.

“Thinking of You” had previously won a Hidden Genius award, a short film competition open to emerging filmmakers by the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association held at the University of California, Los Angeles in April.

During the duration of the Yxine competition, there were twenty movies screened on the website.

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Student wins online short film festival

Best cuts: Scenes from The Journey Unknown by Do Dang Thuong of HCM City grabbed the best script and best film editing prizes. — File Photo

HCM CITY — Thinking of You by Vietnamese-American Vu Quang Huy has won the Golden Heart prize for best film at YxineFF, Viet Nam's first online short film festival.

The chemical biology student from the University of California (UC) also received prizes for best director and best cinematography at a ceremony held at HCM City's BHD Cinema Star on Sunday.

American student of the UC, Christy Yang won the prize for best actor.

Huy's film, produced in 2009, is a vignette about a quirky flower-shop girl and the elusive "object" of her desire.

He is polishing the script for a movie version of the film he hopes to make in the next two years.

The five-minute version also won the Audience Award at Hidden Genius, a short film competition sponsored by the Vietnamese-American Arts and Letters Association.

It has been screened at various festivals like the Vietnamese International Film Festival and San Diego Film Festival.

At the YxineFF, animated film The Journey Unknown by Do Dang Thuong of HCM City grabbed the best script and best film editing prizes.

The 4-minute-40-second film depicts the journey of an unnamed, faceless character that jumps out of a book's page through the book that takes it through heaven, destruction, urbanisation, and war.

Thuong said he actually created the character and background from paper before resorting to stop motion, an animation technique.

The film is the 23-year-old's first production and was screened at the Future Shorts Festival, which is organised by the global short film community, held in Viet Nam last year.

The organisers of YxineFF, the Sai Gon Media Company and local film aficionados, gave away the Red Heart prize for best film chosen by audiences to L.O.V.E by Vu Ngoc Phuong, an overseas Vietnamese from the Philippines.

Up in the Tree, directed by Bui Quoc Thang of Ha Noi, won the New Heart prize for the film with creative and new ideas.

All the award-wining films can be watched at the festival's website at www.yxineff.com.

The festival, which was launched in May, aims to broaden the independent film-making community in Viet Nam and offer local film-makers an opportunity to promote their works worldwide.

It showed 20 films in the Competition category for 10-minute films, 21 films in the Panorama category for 30-minute shorts made in the last three years, and 12 films made by young directors in the In Focus category. — VNS

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Vietnamese short stories introduced in Germany

BERLIN — A collection of short stories entitled Tuong Ve Huu (The Retired General), marking the 10th Berlin International Literature Festival, has been presented in Germany.

Author Nguyen Huy Thiep and Guenter Giesenfeld, president of Viet Nam-Germany Friendship Association, who took part in translating the collection into German, both discussed the works with various audiences.

The collection was presented in order to introduce new Vietnamese literature to German audiences.

Free movies for Ha Noi anniversary

HA NOI — A programme entitled Nhung Ngay Phim Viet Nam (Days of Viet Nam Films) will be screened as part of the Ha Noi anniversary celebrations on October 1-10 at the National Cinema Centre and August Cinema.

Admission will be free for movies including Long Thanh Cam Gia Ca (Musician in Thang Long Citadel) and Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai (Passing Shanghai Wharf) on the opening day.

The Viet Nam Cinema Department has organised the programme which will be shown throughout the country.

Late poet's birthday honoured in music and verse

HA NOI — Late poet To Huu's 90th birthday will be honoured at a programme of music and verse titled Dep Vo Cung To Quoc Ta Oi (Our Nation Is Very Beautiful) at the Ha Noi Opera House next Saturday.

Singers will recite the poet's works and the Viet Nam Writers' Association will hold a conference to discuss To Huu's poems.

Viet Nam's Next Top Model to premiere on VTV3

HCM CITY— The first episode of Viet Nam's Next Top Model, a television reality show that scouts potential female models, will be broadcast on the national entertainment channel VTV3 at 8pm next Thursday.

At two auditions last month in Ha Noi and HCM City, 18 girls were short-listed from more than 1,500 contestants aged between 18 and 25 from around the country.

The show will follow every move of the semi-finalists who will live together in a Cast House in HCM City for two months where they will be filmed 24/7.

They will be stripped of all means of communications to the outside world and will have no access to a mobile phone, computer, internet or newspaper.

On each show, a contestant will be eliminated after participating in challenges in different modelling skills like a photo-shoot, cat-walk and make-up.

Two finalists will be pitted against each other in the final gala show which will be aired live at the end of January.

This is the first season of the show, which is based on the show America's Next Top Model on CBS, a national TV network in the US. — VNS

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Vietnam TV show makes it to Asian awards short list

Dreaming star is a show that helps young people achieve their dreams

Photo: Tuoi Tre

For the first time, a Vietnamese television show has been short-listed for the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union Prize and will rub shoulders with the big boys from Japan, Korea, and China.

Ngoi sao uoc mo or Dreaming Star, produced by Vietnam Television, has been nominated in two categories: TV Entertainment and TV special jury prize.

It is a show that helps young people achieve their dreams with the support of individuals who are celebrities in their fields and organizations.

Broadcast for the first time in August 2009 on VTV6, a channel meant for youth, it has showcased the dreams of 50 young people around the country.

The program also features games, live performances, creative video clips, and others.

Shows from Japan’s TBS, Korea’s KBS, Australia’s ABC, and China’s CCTV have also made it to the short list.

The results will be announced at the ABU awards ceremony in Tokyo October 19, with the winners in each category getting a trophy and a cash prize of US$1500.

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