An incomplete movie by director Luong Dinh Dung will be shown at the 22nd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival between November 16 and December 2 in Tallinn, Estonia.
The movie, titled Drowsy City, will compete in the Works in Progress category. The jury will choose the winning project from other contenders including Golden Voices (Israel), Days of Whale (Colombia), Senafon (Russia, Thailand), On the Edge (Russia), The Hunt (Turkey), Sisters (Norway) and Coming Home (Armenia, Russia).
The winning project will get a prize of EUR10,000 to complete the final production stage and boost publicity for the film.
Dung’s film features Tao, who lives in an abandoned house. His life is simple until a group of strange men and one woman move to the area.
The movie is adapted from a novel written by the director under the same name in 2008.
Dung said the movie had a low budget and aimed to participate in international film festivals before its scheduled June 2019 screening in Vietnam.
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has a sizeable selection of participating films in its four main categories.
The Baltic Event Co-Production Market, where projects are presented to decision makers during two days of intensive one-on-one meetings, with an extra day of training, includes 16 projects from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine, as well as the 2018 focus country, Italy.
They will be vying for the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth 20,000 EUR, the Best Pitch from Screen International and two passes to the 2019 Producers Network from the Cannes Film Market.
The Baltic Event Works in Progress showcase feature films in production or post-production looking for a sales agent or a festival for an international premiere. They are split into two categories. The international category has eight projects, and the Baltic category has 11. The main award in the International section is EUR10,000 of post-production services from Finnish company Post Control, while the top prize in the Baltic section is a contribution of EUR3,000 towards expenses for promotion and distribution in the Baltic countries.
The POWR Baltic Stories Exchange trains writers to deliver a good pitch and find a producer at the public project presentation, as well as get industry feedback from carefully selected Baltic Event participants. This year, it is partnering with In Focus, a Finnish initiative aimed at female filmmakers. It includes ten projects, six of them by Finnish female screenwriters.
Finally, Script Pool Tallinn is a script competition that gathers talented scriptwriters whose projects already have producers attached to provide them with support for enhancing their scripts and maximising production and distribution potential. The main award of 5,000 EUR is provided by international sales company Global Screen GmbH.
On educational cooperation, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Thanh Binh praised long-standing collaboration in training, research and academic exchanges, noting that the Vietnamese language now is taught at around 30 universities across China.
Technology is similarly enriching exhibitions at the Vietnam Women’s Museum in Hanoi. Wartime letters, a typewriter and other artefacts linked to former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh have been digitally integrated with collections held at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. Through projection mapping, 3D displays and a virtual reality recreation of the Paris Peace Agreement, visitors can engage more deeply with the life and achievements of one of Vietnam’s most prominent diplomats.
As international arrivals surge and global travel trends shift toward safer, culture-focused destinations, Vietnam is positioning itself to move beyond budget tourism and compete through high-value experiences and service quality.
Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang, Supreme Patriarch of the VBS Patronage Council, called on Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, and followers to continue serving society with mindfulness and compassion, uphold the noble traditions of Vietnamese Buddhism, and spread the light of kindness to foster a better life for all.
In recent years, many localities across the Dong Van Karst Plateau have strengthened efforts to integrate traditional culture preservation into schools. "Khen" performances, linen weaving, folk songs and traditional games are gradually becoming more familiar once again to younger generations.
Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Gillian Bird said: “We are thrilled to support this musical collaboration between Australia’s Matthew Ifield and Vietnam’s Mỹ Anh. Creative connections and exchange between young people in Australia and Vietnam will help build cultural understanding between our nations”.
The Vietnam Film Institute in coordination with the Embassy of Sweden will jointly organise the Vietnam–Sweden Children’s Film Week in Hanoi in early June, featuring free screenings of Vietnamese animated films and Swedish children’s classics.
Vietnamese Buddhism has consistently upheld the spirit of “protecting the nation and serving the people” while accompanying the nation in promoting social ethics, strengthening great national unity, and advancing national development.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, has officially launched the “Korea Season 2026” program series in Vietnam.
With a score of 69 out of 100, Hanoi stood out for its remarkable visual diversity, boasting more than 1.8 million unique colours captured across the analysed images.
The growing presence of Vietnam in international music videos is therefore more than a story of beautiful imagery. It is also a test of how the country positions itself within the global cultural landscape.
According to Vu Ngoc Lam, Country Director of Agoda Vietnam, travellers are becoming more selective when choosing accommodation, prioritising properties with strong reviews, quality amenities and distinctive dining options. This trend reflects a growing emphasis on the overall travel experience, alongside peer-based quality assurance.
Hanoi is currently home to the largest number of craft villages in Vietnam, with around 1,350 villages engaged in traditional trades and handicrafts.
With its majestic landscapes, rich ethnic cultures and immersive tourism experiences, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Old Town of Lijiang are becoming increasingly attractive to Vietnamese travellers, while also contributing to stronger tourism and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province.
The increase in flights from Russia, the CIS and Belarus to Da Nang not only helps diversify the city’s international visitor markets but also reflects growing confidence among international travel companies in Da Nang’s attractiveness and tourism capacity.
The Command Cave tour offers domestic and international visitors an opportunity to explore the values of the World Natural Heritage site of Phong Nha-Ke Bang while commemorating the victories and sacrifices of forces operating along the Truong Son route.
The introduction of a 10-year multiple-entry visa policy, together with a series of new tourism promotion programs, is creating fresh momentum for the Vietnam–South Korea tourism market in 2026.
The representative of the Vietnam Cinema Association stated that in the context of today’s fourth Industrial Revolution, the requirement to respect and ensure historical authenticity through cinema has become more important than ever, as digital platforms and cyberspace have enabled the widespread dissemination of cross-border media products.
According to the digital travel platform Agoda, travel searches by Vietnamese users show a clear shift toward lesser-known destinations offering more personalised and immersive experiences, spanning coastal, mountainous and cultural tourism.
PSNews - "We have always affirmed that the greatest strength lies in the people, and the greatest creativity also comes from the people. When millions of positive stories are shared and spread simultaneously, we are not only promoting the image of our country, but also helping to strengthen social trust, enhance consensus, elevate national prestige, and proactively counter false and distorted information about Vietnam in the international arena", said Trinh Thi Thuy - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Organizing Committee of the award.