The UK Film Week will start in Hanoi on December 11 with “Looking for Eric”, a comedy by director Ken Loach.

A well-known Norwegian historian, Stein Tonnesson, who has spent more than 30 years of his life studying Vietnam, has launched a book titled “Vietnam 1946: How the war began”. 

The Japanese Business Association in HCM City (JBAH), in collaboration with the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), awarded 90 scholarships to disadvantaged university students in the city. 

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho is building up a file on Dan ca tai tu Nam bo (Southern amateur music) to be submitted to UNESCO for recognition as an intangible cultural heritage, said a provincial official. 

A former winner of the Russian Tchaikovsky Prize, violinist Bui Cong Duy, performed with top Vietnamese and the Republic of Korea’s musicians at the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House on December 5 to raise money for storm victims. 

Vietnamese stage art troupes nationwide have closely followed the policies of the Party and State and the practices of the renovation process, reflecting honestly the fight against corruption, bureaucracy and degeneration among cadres.

The Vietnamese film “When Autumn Sunlight Comes” (Khi Nang Thu Ve), directed by Bui Trung Hai, will be screened at the Third Eye Asian Film Festival in Mumbai, India, on December 4-10.

Vietnamese male model Vinh Thuy, who took the Silver Prize at the Vietnam Supermodel 2009 contest, departed for Taiwan on December 8 to take part in Mr International 2009.

Vietnam will commemorate the 701st anniversary of the attainment of Nirvana of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong, the founder of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism, on December 16. 

More than 60 scientists have joined their Vietnamese colleagues to tour a number of archaeological sites in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa. 

Over 40 black and white paintings by Vietnamese painter Hoang Minh Phuc are on show for the first time in Paris, France.  

Germany’s award-winning Signum string quartet will perform in Hanoi on December 8.

Ho Chi Minh City’s gastronomes were pampered last week at the Fourth Taste of the World Festival which ended on December 6 at September 23 Park.  

Otoza Group, a well-known Japanese art troupe, will perform on the wadaiko drum at HCM City’s Opera House on Friday to bring the curtain down on the Japanese Cultural Month in the city and the Mekong-Japan Exchange Year.

Kim Hoa Barutaut, a girl of Vietnamese origin, qualified for the final round of this year’s Miss France beauty pageant.

The seventh congress of the Vietnam Theatrical Artists’ Association (VTAA) will take place at the Opera House in Hanoi from December 7-9 with the participation of 502 association members and many other artists throughout the country.

The first student music festival ended in Hanoi on Dec. 5. It highlighed the best art performances selected by music lovers via SMS message and the website http://www.lienhoanamnhac.com.

Various activities in will be held in Hanoi from Dec. 11-14 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Ha Long Bay’s recognition as the world natural heritage (Dec. 7).

Professors from Colorado State University (CSU) will have lectures at the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi this month under a bilateral cooperation framework.

More than 40 works by Vietnam’s wood carving artist Hoang Minh Phuc, are being displayed at the Vietnam Cultural Centre in France from December 4.  

Anyone in Hanoi who has a dream to travel to the Milky Way can have it partly come true as they can see by their eyes true photos of the galaxy at a scientific exhibition opened in the capital city on December 3. 

Flower arrangements by Eikou Sumara, one of Japan ’s top artisans, will be on display alongside works of 10 local artists at the second Ikebana Festival that will open at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam ( Temple of Literature ) in Hanoi on December 5. 

An Austrian duo will make their debut in Hanoi on November 3.

A culinary festival featuring delicious dishes from countries throughout the world opened in Ho Chi Minh City on December 3.

 “Looking for Eric,” a comedy by celebrated director Ken Loach, will open UK Film Week in Hanoi from December 11-17.

The second international sculpture creation camp entitled “Impression of Hung Vuong ancestral land” opened at the Hung Kings’ Temple Complex in the northern midland province of Phu Tho on December 3.

120 works of photographers from 6 countries are being showcased at the Mekong-Japan Culture and Tourism Photographic Exhibition in Ninh Kieu, Can Tho from December 3-5.

A special photo exhibition was held in Hanoi, on Dec. 2 to tell stories of brave people who have overcome adversity to live happy and useful lives.

Various activities were held before the opening ceremony of the Mekong-Japan Culture and Tourism Festival, which officially took place in the evening in Can Tho city on Dec. 2.

The Can Tho City’s People’s Committee held a concert called the “Mekong Dream” on December 1 to raise funds for poor children from the four Mekong sub-region countries, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.