The opening ceremony of the 24th Vietnam Film Festival took place at the Independence Palace in HCMC on November 21. On this occasion, HCMC was awarded the title of “Creative City of Film” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), making it the first Vietnamese city to be listed in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
The 24th Vietnam Film Festival, themed “Vietnamese Cinema – Sustainable Development and International Integration in the New Era,’ aimed to honor the best films and showcase the spirit of integration in the country’s cinema. The event attracted 87 entries, including 16 movies, 36 documentaries, 14 science documentaries, and 21 animated films.
The event was held during the period when the government is implementing its strategy to develop cultural industries through 2030, with a vision toward 2045, inspiring the cinema sector to set higher goals. There were also seminars, a photo exhibition, music and fashion shows, and exchanges between filmmaking groups and students.
The Golden Lotus prizes would be granted to the best categories – movie, documentary, science documentary, animated film and visual effects. The conclusion and award ceremony took place at the Military Theater (in former Tan Binh District) on November 25.
Dedicated teachers in remote areas honored
On the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20, 1982-2025), the Vietnam Youth Federation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Training and Thien Long Group Corporation, honored 80 outstanding teachers at the Sharing with Teachers 2025 program, held in Hanoi on November 14.
According to kinhtedothi.vn, the 80 teachers honored at the event are those working in rural, remote or border areas. Of these teachers, 36 are of the Thai, Muong, Mong, La Chi, Bo Y, Co Tu, Jrai, and Ha Nhi ethnic minority groups.
Nguyen Tuong Lam, secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union cum chairman of the Vietnam Youth Federation, said the program was a recognition of the great contributions and sacrifices of these teachers, adding that what they had been doing was highly appreciated.
Over the past years, youth unions and related organizations around the country have organized many meaningful activities to appreciate the contributions of teachers and to lend a hand to students, especially for those in rural, remote, and border areas.
Outstanding teachers in HCMC recognized
On November 19, the HCMC People’s Committee held a ceremony to honor outstanding teachers in educational development in the city in the 1975-2025 period. The Vo Truong Toan prizes were also awarded on this occasion.
Fifty outstanding teachers were honored this year for what they and their predecessors had done to build, renovate and develop HCMC’s education and training sector over the past 50 years. Among them are Pham Ngoc Tien, former deputy head of the High School Education Bureau under the HCMC Department of Education and Training; Do Quoc Anh Triet, teacher at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted; Nguyen Van Cai, vice principal of Quang Trung Senior High School, who was selected as a “young, outstanding citizen of HCMC”; Tran Tuan Anh, teacher at Colette Junior High School; Nguyen Bac Dung, former principal of Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted; Ho Phu Bac, former head of the Testing and Quality Accreditation Bureau (HCMC Department of Education and Training).
On this occasion, the HCMC People’s Committee also awarded 50 teachers with the Vo Truong Toan medal to recognize their great contributions to the education sector, tuoitre.vn reported.
Unique flood-prevention village in Danang
Hoang Phuoc Bac Hamlet, Thuong Duc Commune, Danang City, is home to some 150 households with about 600 residents. Lying between the Kon and Vu Gia rivers, the village is a flood-prone area of the former Quang Nam Province.
Nguyen Van Thuoc, 71, head of the hamlet, told dantri.com.vn that every flooding season, often from the ninth lunar month to the end of the year, most of the households in the village are equipped with rafts, each is often made with bamboo poles tied together onto 4-6 plastic or metal barrels, to carry locals’ livestock, poultry, farm produce, motorbikes and other assets to prevent from being submerged in the floodwater.
Thuoc said all the villagers have prepared on the spot management, coordination, personnel and means to be able to cope with floods. He added that local residents would also reduce the amount of their livestock and poultry during the flooding season to restrict losses.
It is noteworthy that most of the houses in the hamlet were built with foundations 1-1.5m higher than the ground. A 600-square-meter communal house was built as a venue for cultural activities and as a safe house for villagers whose houses were inundated.
