HA NOI (VNS) — Several cultural activities will highlight French culture during French Week in Da Lat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

The week will be kicked off on Monday with the opening of an exhibition featuring hundreds of valuable documents, maps and photos about Da Lat.

Entitled Da Lat: Founding History and Development through Maps, the display will unveil documents and objects which were collected and authenticated by a team of French and Vietnamese researchers of the French School of Far Eastern Research (Ecole française d'Extreme Orient).

After closing in Da Lat, the display will be presented in HCM City, Nha Trang and Ha Noi. The exhibition's organisers have also discussed the possibility of mounting an exhibition in France.

Also, the ongoing mobile movie screening programme, hosted by the French Embassy, will stop in the Central Highlands city for four screenings at Alexandre Yersin Park.

The opening screening will present the comedy De vrais mensonges (Beautiful Lies) starting at 7pm on December 9, following by the movie Un plan parfait (A Perfect Plan) at 9pm.

French photographer Sebastien Laval will present his photos depicting Da Lat by night at an exhibition during the French Week in Da Lat.

The Cesar Award-wining Intouchabled and the Oscar-winning The Artist will be screened the next evening, December 10, at 7pm and 9pm.

Another highlight of the week will be the appearance by well-known French writer Partrick Deville at Book Cafe on December 11 to launch the Vietnamese-language version of his book Yersin, Peste&Cholera (Yersin, Plague&Cholera).

The book won the 2012 Femina Prize – the second most important literature prize in France. The Vietnamese versions have been published by the Tre Publishing House with the support of the French Embassy in Viet Nam.

French Week in Da Lat will also put on display a photo exhibition by French photographer Sebastien Laval, which will open to the public on December 12.

Laval, who last year had a solo exhibition featuring his photos depicting Ha Noi by night, will showcase similar photos he recently took in HCM City and Da Lat. Visitors will be able to experience a journey to three different cities to discover their night life.

Also, a concert entitled Crossed Visions will wrap up French Week on December 15.

The concert, which will feature the band VietVoDaHouse, along with a visual performance by French artist Stephane Pucci, will take place at the Hoa Binh Theatre Square.

According to French Ambassador Jean-Noel Poirier, French Week in Da Lat is a meaningful cultural event, meant to assist in celebrating the city's 120th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the relation between Viet Nam and France. — VNS