Festival celebrates VN-France ties

HCM CITY — The Festival Việt – Pháp (Việt Nam- France Festival) will be held at IDECAF in HCM City tomorrow as part of the city’s cultural activities to celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and France.   

The event, with the theme “Sharing a Sky”, will include cultural exchange activities, and theatre and music programmes staged by professional and young artists. 

Film screenings and forums with veteran filmmakers, including Vietnamese-French film directors Việt Linh and Trần Anh Hùng, will also be included.

Music performances by saxophonist Xuân Hiếu and pianist Tuấn Mạnh will be the featured shows.

Young singers Võ Lê Vy, Julie Thanh Nguyên and Kim Khánh will also perform.

Participants will have a chance to take photos with mini sculptures and maquettes about Sài Gòn by artist Lê Xuân Giang.

A photo exhibition by Thái Phiên, a member of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), will open tonight.

Dozens of black-and-white and colour photos of female nudes will be displayed.

The works are from the artist’s collections of nudes that he has shot for more than ten years. 

Phiên’s photos of nudes were first shown in Việt Nam in 2007. The images were from his Springtime by Thái Phiên, the country’s first photo book of nudes.

The book won a prize from the Việt Nam Association of Photographic Artists. It was also recognised as one of HCM City’s top 10 cultural events of 2008 by Voice of Hồ Chí Minh City.  

Phiên has published three photo books of nudes.

The festival’s organisers are the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France and An Yên Media Education and Entertainment Company.

It will close on December 10 at 31 Thái Văn Lung Street in District 1. — VNS