HA NOI — The local short film Lan, Dung Khoc (Lan, Don’t Cry), made by a group of high school students from Da Nang, was among five award winning contestants at the Asian Student Film Festival in Japan.

Filmmakers Phan Thi Thuy Dung, Trinh Lan Phuong and Vo Tuan Quang, from Tay Son High School based their efforts on a student whose parents suffer discrimination due to their HIV/AIDS status.

The school won a special prize at the event last year with the film Buoi hoc cua Thuy (Thuy’s Class).

This year’s festival managed to draw 116 films from ten different countries.

1,000 year-old Champa pottery found

HUE — A 1,000-year-old clay pot was found on the Huong River bed which flows through Thua Thien Hue city.

The cylindrical pot is 24cm in height and, according to researcher Ho Tan Phan, dates back to the Champa era (11th-15th century).

The artefact is the only specimen of Champa pottery found in the river thus far.

Red Cross event to raise funds for poor

HCM CITY — The HCM City Red Cross and Sai Gon Paper Corporation’s Bless You brand yesterday announced plans to organise the Trao gui an lanh (Blessing) festival to raise funds to help poor children and disadvantaged people celebrate Tet (Lunar New Year).

The festival has as its mascot a record-sized pink mica flapping crane with 18,000 people’s fingerprints, which has been acknowledged in the Viet Nam Guinness Book of Records.

The crane is 2.2m tall and 3.5m wide, and is meant to be a harbinger of peace, happiness, and luck to all in the new year.

There will be a music show each in Ha Noi on January 1 and HCM City a week later, with the participation of some top singers.

At the shows, the crane will be auctioned and the winning bid will be announced at the second show.

Some 25,000 poor children, people in flood-prone areas, and revolutionary families will get gifts worth VND500,000 ($24) each. — VNS