Society

Vietnam to observe Francophonie Day

Vietnam will once again honour the French language through a film festival and concerts to celebrate International Francophonie Day, which falls on March 20.
Vietnam will once again honour the French language through a filmfestival and concerts to celebrate International Francophonie Day, whichfalls on March 20.

"It's an opportunity for us to honour thevalues of solidarity, cultural diversity and respect for culturaldifferences," said Anissa Barrak, Asia-Pacific director of theInternational Francophone Organisation (OIF).

To begin thismonth-long celebration, an official ceremony will take place at 6.30pmon March 20 at the Hanoi Opera House. The ceremony will be followed bythe concert by Haitian singer Jean Jean Roosevelt and performances bydancers from the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre from 8pm.

Acultural day will also be held at the Hanoi University on Nguyen TraiStreet on March 21 from 10am to 3pm, gathering together lovers of Frenchculture. They will meet with representatives of key players in theFrancophone community involved in education, culture and developmentco-operation. A karaoke singing contest for students in Vietnamese andFrench will be organised at the event.

On the same day, the public will also watch performances of French music by Vietnamese students.

Thehighlight of the celebrations will be the Francophone Film Festivalwhich will showcase the cultural diversity of the Francophonie. It willkick off in Ho Chi Minh City on March 23 with the award-winning Tunisiandocumentary film Le Challat de Tunis (The Slasher of Tunis).

The festival will present in total ten films from Vietnam, Bulgaria, France, Haiti, Morocco, Romania, Switzerland, and Tunisia.

Thefilms, which have won prestigious prizes, will be screened in HCM City,Hanoi, Hue and Vinh with Vietnamese subtitles, while the Vietnamesemovie will have French subtitles.

A contest testing theaudiences' knowledge of the films will offer members of the public thechance to win interesting prizes. More information can be found atwww.festivaldufilm.francophonie.org.vn.

Two concerts will also beheld in HCM City featuring singer Alif Naaba from Burkina Faso andVietnamese pianist Cao Thanh Lan together with a wide range of othercultural activities in Hue, Vinh, HCM City and Can Tho.

Vietnam was one of the founding countries of the International Francophonie Organisation in 1970.

Overthe years, the IFO has maintained active co-operation with Vietnamincluding the exchange of training and technical expertise in a numberof fields.

French is spoken by 270 million people in 80 countries across the world.-VNA
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