Nation honours Francophone Day

HA NOI — The French language will be once again honoured in Viet Nam through a wide range of cultural activities on the occasion of International Francophone Day.

Culture spectacle: A scene from the Canadian film Incendies which will be screened on the occasion of International Francophone Day. — File Photo

“It’s an opportunity for us to honour the values of solidarity and respect for culture differences,” said Anissa Barrak, Asia-Pacific director of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF).

A Francophone Film Festival will kick off on Friday in Ha Noi and HCM City as part of a national celebration of this month-long event. The festival will present 12 films from nine countries: Viet Nam, France, Canada, Marocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Chad, and Ivory Coast.

An educational festival will also be organised at Ha Noi University on Sunday, where students will attend presentations on the cultures of various Francophone countries.

Francophone film festival

The films presented during the festival include L’Illusionniste (The Illusionist) and A l’Origine (In the Beginning) (France), Un Homme Qui Crie ( A Screaming Man) (Chad), Le Mec Ideal (Ideal Guy) (Ivory Coast), A Pas de Loup ( On the Sly) (Belgium), La Grande Villa (The Big Villa) (Maroco), Au Dessous des Etoiles ( Under the Stars) (Greece), Mui Co Chay (Scent of Burned Grass) and Tam Hon Me (Mother’s Soul) (Viet Nam)

The festival will also present the Swiss film Maman est Chez le Coiffeur which won several international important prizes and the Canadian movie Incendies which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011. The film, which follows the journey of twin brother and sister as they attempt to unravel the mystery of their mother’s life, is considered by the New York Times as one of the 10 best films of 2011.

At the screening of the Chad film A Screaming Man, which won the prize of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film festival at Cinematheque, the film director Mahamat Saleh Haroun will be present.

In Ha Noi, the screenings will be held until March 28 at L’Espace, the French cultural centre, at 24 Trang Tien Street and at Cinematheque (22A Hai Ba Trung Street). In HCM City, the films will be shown at IDECAF (Centre of Cultural Exchange with France) at 31 Thai Van Lung Street, until April 10.

All the screenings will have Vietnamese subtitles.

A contest about the Francophone films being presented at the festival is available at www.jeu-cine.francophonie.org.vn until April 10.

An official ceremony will take place on March 20 to celebrate the 42nd International Francophone Day at the Ha Noi Opera House.
The ceremony will be followed by performances of well-known singers from different Francophone countries including Maryse Ngalula (Congo), Cloe du Trefle (Belgium), Do Thi Thanh Hoa (Viet Nam) and dancers from the Viet Nam National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

A photo exhibition of the Swiss group Plonk and Replonk will be held at L’Espace until March 27. The French cultural centre will also host Cameroonian singer Kareyce Fotso and singer Ali Keita from the Ivory Coast on March 22.

A wide range of other cultural activities will also be organised in Hue, Da Lat, Vinh, HCM City and Tien Giang, the location of the 15th Francophone Festival of the Mekong Delta.

Viet Nam was one of the founder countries of the Francophonie in 1970.

Over the last year, the OIF has maintained an active co-operation with Viet Nam featuring the exchange of training and technical expertise in a number of fields.

French is spoken by 220 million people across the world. — VNS