Culture Vulture

Budapest-based Vietnamese designer, Luu Anh Tuan, will present his creations at the annual Dep Fashion Show (DFS) on Sunday in Ha Noi. His works combine modern western and traditional oriental features. The 30-year-old designer, who is regarded as a Hungarian fashion phenomenon, talks with Culture Vulture about his creative jobs and the inspiration for his collection.

What led you to work in fashion?

My two older brothers, who studied fine arts, introduced me to the arts when I was very young; that played a significant role in my inclination towards fashion. My interest grew when my family moved to Hungary in 1989. I had more access to European art and culture.

I decided to study fashion in the Textile Design Department at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, as well as at the London College of Fashion. I specialised in fashion and accessory design.

How do fashionistas greet your creations?

Since launching my own fashion label, Anh Tuan, in 2006, I've been invited to join the Budapest Fashion Week every year. My designs were presented at the New York Fashion Week in September 2009 and at the London Fashion Week in February 2010, and are regularly featured in leading fashion magazines like ELLE, InStyle, Marie Claire, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan.

Why did you decide to join the DFS?

I joined because I knew the show was organised by Dep magazine, a leading Vietnamese fashion magazine equivalent to some famous international publications. I believe in Dep and the show itself as it is a large fashion show for Viet Nam.

After spending years building my reputation in the fashion industry, I realised it was the right time for me to return to Viet Nam. Vietnamese fashionistas can glimpse European fashion through my creations. Also, by presenting my collection, I am proudly presenting the success I've achieved after more than 20 years spent living abroad.

Can you reveal anything about your collection to be presented at the show?

Unlike my previous collections, which relied heavily on the use of geometric constructions, the collection for DFS presents more "Asian elements". It is colourful with traditional Asian patterns and themes, including wind, clouds, dragons, and fire.

The pieces are made mainly from Asian luxury materials such as classical Tibet hand-woven brocade, silk, organza, leather, and furs. By using these "Asian elements", I hope the collection will remind the audience of traditional values.

I spent two and a half months completing the collection, which includes 40 outfits as well as bags and shoes.

Do you have ideas for another collection that incorporates Asian features?

Vietnamese women's traditional black silk trousers have made a special impression on me. I see these trousers as a "fashion specialty" of Viet Nam. Although many generations of Vietnamese women have worn them for hundreds of years, they are not popular anymore. That's why I like the idea of redesigning Vietnamese women's clothes as well as traditional clothes from other Asian cultures.

Can you talk more about your current work in Budapest?

Besides running my own showroom, I also manage four other stores in Budapest and Szentendre.

After the DFS in Ha Noi, I have to prepare for my own show set to take place in Budapest in December. All creations presented at the DFS will be showcased at my solo show as well. — VNS

Related Articles

• PM foresees bright future for co-operation with Africa
• Competition serves sustainable agenda
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• Future doctors look for clues in crazy race
• Giant embroidered picture on display

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Anti-human trafficking bill goes under the microscope
• General Giap receives 70-year Party badge
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

Music show marks Toyota’s 21st year in Asia

Lorenzo Castriota Skanderbeg conducts his symphony orchestra

Orchestra Citta de Firenze from Florence, Italy, will perform the Toyota Classic Symphony at the Hanoi Opera House tonight to mark the Japanese company’s 21st anniversary in the Asia Pacific.

Renowned conductor Lorenzo Castriota Skanderbeg will wield the baton while tenor Leonardo Melani and talented young Vietnamese pianist Luu Hong Quang, who won the first prize at the 2009 Chopin Piano Contest in Australia, will perform.

The symphony promises an evening of classical Italian music with concertos and symphonies, extracts from traditional Italian operas like Rossini’s La gazza ladra and Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco.

The show is a part of a series of performances being held from October 23 to November 12 in many Asian countries.

In Vietnam it has been held annually since 1997, acquainting Vietnamese audiences with world masterpieces and enabling local artists to perform with foreign professionals.

The money raised from ticket sales will go into the Toyota scholarship fund for young Vietnamese musicians.

Related Articles

• Painters show works inspired by nature, nostalgia
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• Timber-product exporters sign $3b deals
• High rice price cuts exports
• Girls gear up for Vietnam’s Next Top Model

Halloween creeps up on HCM City

HCM CITY — It has been creeping up on this city, and none too surreptitiously.

Halloween celebrations in HCM City have increased in popularity over the last few years and it has become a more elaborate affair each year.

Nowhere is this reflected more than in the costumes that many shops in the city have imported for the revelries this year. The choice is much wider and the products more expensive.

With a week to go for the festival, business is bustling.

Vanel Tuan, director of Lien Huong Ltd Co, said this year the products are more diverse and two to three times higher in quantity than last year. The company used to sell around 10 kinds of masks and costumes, but this year they have 25 kinds of costumes and more than 150 masks.

For the products imported by his company, retail costume prices range from VND60,000-250,000 (US$3-12.5) while masks cost between VND12,000 and VND15,000, Tuan said.

Superman and Spiderman costumes, angel and butterfly wings as well as a collection of monster masks are perennial favourites, and most of these are made in China.

Halloween accessories are sold in souvenir and toy shops. The youngsters can choose and purchase their costumes and accessories including fake fingernails and teeth from www.lienhuong.vn.

Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, mainly in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland. It is catching on in several other countries including Australia, New Zealand and Viet Nam. The festival has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday known as All Saints' Day, but has no religious connotations today. Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treat, where kids wearing costumes go from door to door in a neighbourhood and are given gifts of candy and other tidbits; costume parties; carving pumkins into jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing and visiting haunted attractions.

Le Thu Huyen, who owns the Chip Chip souvenir shop in District 7, said this masks of famous personalities like Michael Jackson that light up are a big favourite this year. Harry Potter costumes are out of stock, she said.

Apart from costumes and other personal accessories, there are those who want to go the whole hog, as they do in the US, where this festival is celebrated with something akin to religious fervour. There are several products on sale for such people as well, like a coffin from which a human skeleton springs up suddenly. This costs more than VND3 million ($150).

Custom made Halloween costumes are also becoming more popular. Hoang Nhat Nguyen of the Kien Do Ltd Co in District 10 said they have received more than 20 orders from customers aged 14-22.

Depending on the customers' needs, the company offers advice, selects materials and suitable accessories to complete the costume in two to seven days for between VND350,000 and 2 million ($17.50-100).

Holiday choices

Many private firms, public agencies, restaurants and leading hotels are cashing in on the increasing popularity of Halloween. On offer are buffets and Halloween parties with different themes.

Phuong Nga Ltd Co, a business with 10 years of experience in organising Halloween festivals for children through its Funny Land toy shop chain, said it has exciting games and activities on offer this year, like making effigies of the devil and a design contest for the popular cartoon character Casper, the friendly ghost.

The company's festival celebrations are being organised on October 30-31 at one of its stores in District 3, with entrance tickets priced at VND160,000 ($8).

The festival will be celebrated at the Dam Sen Cultural Park as well. Customers dressed in costumes will be offered free entrance tickets

The Tho Ngoc Club in District 3, the Student Cultural House and the Chip Chip store are other places where the festival will be celebrated under different themes. Some of the events will raise funds to help households in the flood-ravaged central region. — VNS

Related Articles

• Local Party congress opens in capital city
• Energy group asks for 50% price hike
• Administrative reforms boost City's growth rate
• Visit hell then heaven
• Civil servants to enjoy State housing

Citibank employees celebrate Global Community Day

Citibank employees and schoolkids from Long Truong Secondary School in District 9. The program aimed to motivate the kids to continue their education - Photo: Ngoc Diem

About 140 Citibank employees, families and friends volunteered to spend one day of their weekend to refurbish a library and offer basic banking knowledge to students at a secondary school in HCMC for their annual community day on Saturday, October 23.

Citibank volunteers donated over 800 new and used books, five used computers and 10 new bookshelves to Long Truong Secondary School in Ong Nhieu Village, Long Truong Ward, District 9. Apart from painting and renovating the school library, volunteers conducted 10 group sessions with students to share their career development stories and introduce the basics of banking business.

The event, jointly organised with the NGO, Save the Children, marks the fifth annual “Global Community Day” of Citigroup Inc.  On the day, more than 45,000 Citi volunteers around the globe came together as a team to support the community in various projects: literacy, housing, environmental protection, nutrition and healthcare.

“Global Community Day is an annual initiative that celebrates what we do to make a difference in our communities every day,” said Brett Krause, Citibank Vietnam Managing Director and Citi Country Officer. Located about 20km from the city centre, Long Truong School is in a fast urbanising suburb with many social challenges and has a high dropout rate among students.  Citibank staff focused on encouraging students to commit to continuous education, according to Krause. 

Bank volunteers told inspiring stories about their own study experience, how they overcame hardship in the past and ended up working in the banking sector.

Also on this day, a hundred Citibank Hanoi staff and friends joined in renovating the library of Ha Cau orphanage in Ha Dong, which they have volunteered all year round to support.

Related Articles

• Citibank employees celebrate Global Community Day
• Naval forces boost global co-operation
• Market moves up sharply
• Law to boost civil service quality
• Senior officials prepare for ASEAN Summit