Posted by Oneviet at 06:57 PM | Link | Comments (0)

“Ông Trời rất công bằng, chẳng cho ai hết mọi thứ mà cũng chẳng lấy hết của ai bao giờ, và có lúc trong đời phải nói lời chia tay …”

Đức Hà
OneViet.com

SANTA-ANA, Quận Cam - Từ hơn bốn năm rưỡi nay có một người mẹ Việt Nam hàng năm chỉ được gặp con đúng một lần. Mẹ ở Mỹ, hai con ở Việt Nam và nơi gặp gỡ là Thái Lan và thường là trong dịp hè khi con được nghỉ học. Sự xa cách nghìn dặm, niềm thương nhớ dạt dào, tình mẹ con lưu luyến khiến mỗi lần gặp nhau là nước mắt đầy tràn và mỗi lần chia tay cũng lại tràn đầy nước mắt. Nếu một hai năm đầu cả mẹ lẫn con khóc lóc giàn giụa, chia tay bứt rứt thì năm sau thái độ là câm nín, giận hờn và oán trách.
“Tại sao con phải đi Thái Lan mới gặp được mẹ; tại sao mẹ không về nhà ở với con,” nguời con gái 7 tuổi thắc mắc với bà ngoại.
Đây không phải là một cảnh của sân khấu kịch mà là bi kịch thật của Thu Phương, vai người mẹ và hai con Nguyễn Duy Hải, 14 tuổi và Nguyễn Thanh Thảo, 7 tuổi. Cũng mỗi năm một lần tại Bangkok, Thu Phương mới được gặp cha mẹ ruột cùng gia đình anh trai và em gái. Sau mươi ngày xum họp ngắn ngủi rồi ai về nhà nấy; Thu Phương bay về Mỹ, đại gia đình trở lại Sài Gòn. Tái hẹn năm sau, cứ thế từ sự kiện năm 2003 đến nay.

Full Article "Thu Phương: Một Trời Nhớ Thương Con" »

Posted by Oneviet at 09:46 PM | Link | Comments (0)

Andrew Lâm
New America Media

Editor's note: The Rebel, a martial arts movie made by Vietnamese Americans in Vietnam, with the help of a local crew, is extraordinary, not for its artistic and sleek filmmaking alone, but for bridging the historical gap between Vietnam and its Diaspora. New America Media editor Andrew Lam recently saw the movie at the Bangkok International Film Festival. Lam is the author of "Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora," (Heyday Books, 2005).

Bangkok -- I do not mean to use the word lightly but The Rebel is extraordinary. For a martial arts film made in Vietnam by a handful of Vietnamese Americans with a tiny budget of $1.6 million to approach the likes of a well-choreographed Jackie Chan or Jet Li action flick – say, Drunken Master or The New Legend of Shaolin - is a feat unto itself. But the movie is extraordinary for a far more important reason: it’s a breakthrough film on many levels for Vietnam and its Diaspora.
The movie – shown recently at the Bangkok International Film Festival to great fanfare and sold out crowds in all of its three screenings – tells the saga of anti-French rebellion during colonial period in early 20th century Vietnam, and of the men assigned to squelch it. It features drop dead handsome Vietnamese-American Johnny Nguyen, who had worked as a stuntman for Spider-Man 1 and 2, and the beautiful and fierce Van Ngo, who is known in Europe as a model and in Vietnam as a famous singer. Now, thanks to her co-star who trained her, she can add martial arts fighting to her resume. The movie is directed by Truc “Charlie“ Nguyen, Johnny’s older brother.

Full Article "Martial Arts Film Reconciles Feuding Viets" »

Posted by Oneviet at 10:37 PM | Link | Comments (0)

There are many near misses in life, and for two individuals these near misses were something they will always remember and thank the heavens for, and never forget the generosity of strangers half a world away. “Two little girls were about to be sold into Laos by their mother in February of this year. We intervened in time and brought them to our children's shelter in the City of Hue, Vietnam," Said Jenny Do, the Executive Director of the Friends of Hue Foundation based in San Jose, California, where all board members serve as unpaid volunteers. “The girls are now well cared for by our devoted house mothers and enjoy going to school along with their other adopted brothers and sisters,” Do continued. “Three weeks ago, we took in a boy who was severely mentally and physically abused by his mentally disabled sister to the point that he had to wander the streets to escape the beatings,” Said Ms. Nhi Nhi Duong, the Shelter’s Manager in Hue, an employee of the Friends of Hue Foundation. “Last September, we opened our door to 10 additional children who suffered all kind of tragedies in life. Their stories would bring tears to your eyes, “ Duong said, brimming with great pride.

A Dollar A Child:
All of this started in the wake of the 1999 great flood in Central Vietnam, when a group of local San Jose volunteers decided to establish a shelter for children whose parents did not survive the natural disaster. Since then, the shelter has become a great haven for orphans and disadvantaged children who seek a better life. “Thanks to the continuing support of the local community here in San Jose and volunteers from the Mid Western United State, England, France, Australia and Singapore, we are now raising a family of 43 happy and beautiful children. For $1 a day, you can give love, care, education and hope to one of our children,” said Ms. Jenny Do, a lawyer by day, a gifted artist by night and a child advocate somewhere in between.

“Our work does not stop at the children's shelter. With the generous help from the East Meets West Foundation, and donors like Dodie Gaines and Huu Nguyen, we have finished building a vocational training center designed to help more disadvantaged children -- those who have parents but suffer extreme poverty. This is our effort to reduce the number of children who would otherwise become prey to human traffickers. For $100, you can help a child become self-sufficient and stay out of the risk of human trafficking,” said Dan Do, a Board member of FHF who volunteers his time raising funds from friends, neighbors and business colleagues to help the organization and its recipients.

Full Article "Some Call it Charity, Others Call it the Kindness of Strangers" »

Posted by Oneviet at 10:13 PM | Link | Comments (0)

LTS: Nhân bộ phim Sài Gòn Nhật Thực - Saigon Eclipse (http://www.saigoneclipse.com) được ra mắt tại Hoa Kỳ, OneViet có cuộc trao đổi với đạo diễn kiêm nhà sản xuất Việt kiều Othello Khanh. Ngoài các vai chính Trương Ngọc Ánh, Marjolaine Bùi, Dustin Nguyễn, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Sài Gòn Nhật Thực còn có sự góp mặt của diễn viên Như Quỳnh, Edmund Chen, Daniel You, Joseph Chang Tseng … Sau đây là nội dung cuộc phỏng vấn.

Please tell us about your background

I’ve always worked in the industry, starting as runner in “Until September” in 1984 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088330. Studied Film in Paris, worked as copywriter/art director in French ad agency then became assistant director, freelance cameraman and editor in Paris. This is when I started to direct and produce shorts. The themes were always political and musical. We had a Band: Sao and our theme was the Rhythm and News. We’d talk about what was going on in the world as Dictator Ceausescu was ousted and the Berlin wall fell. It became Ciao Cescu, the dictator’s blues http://bertrand.beuf.free.fr/CiaoCescu.mov and Unity for Germany, rubbadub style http://bertrand.beuf.free.fr/unity.ram. At One point, I needed to be closer to the action, so I moved to Mexico were I directed and produced independently “Corridos sin Rostro” a.k.a. Ballads without a Face http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0487150/maindetails about the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas. Lived with the rebels for half a year then came to Los Angeles to subtitle the film in English and distribute it. That’s when I became a Chicano Activist, showing my film and working with the Latino community. The film was selected at the American Film Festival in 95 and awarded the Latino American Studies Association Merit in Film Award the same year. 1995 is also the year that Clinton lifted the embargo on Vietnam and it is also when I received an invitation to come to Vietnam.

I worked as a free lance director-producer pioneering the TV commercial industry and opened my company: Crea TV http://www.crea-tv.com who is now a leader on the market. When the Vietnamese government started the socialization of the feature film industry – allowing private companies to produce Feature, I pulled out a script I had been writing since I had arrived in Vietnam. The rest is history…

Full Article "Othello Khanh và Sài Gòn Nhật Thực" »

Posted by Oneviet at 11:31 AM | Link | Comments (0)

“Nếu muốn trở thành bác sĩ, hay lấy vợ luật sư, được thôi, hãy hướng vào mục tiêu đó, nhưng đừng bao giờ làm chỉ vì bị bố mẹ ép làm điều đó. Nếu muốn trở thành thi sĩ, một đầu bếp nhà hàng, một nhà tạo mẫu, một gái điếm hay chính trị gia, thì cứ quyết tâm mà tiến. Cái gì cũng có đối giá của nó. Nếu bạn sẵn sàng trả giá cho quyết định của mình, thì đừng bao giờ để ai cản trở.”

Đức Hà
OneViet.com

Không phải tất cả con quan lại làm quan, thế nên con luật sư, lại làm thi sĩ. Đó là câu chuyện của nhà thơ Đinh Linh. Nhưng ông Linh không phải là dạng thi sĩ chỉ làm thơ và ra mắt sách: ông còn dạy sinh viên đại học làm thơ và đi đây đó để đọc thơ và nói về thơ. Thế tại sao lại không noi gương cha làm luật sư hay kinh doanh?
“Tôi không chọn nghề thơ. Thơ đã chọn tôi. Vì thế tôi cố làm cho cuộc hôn nhân này đạt thành công,” ông tâm sự trong e-mail trả lời phỏng vấn với OneViet.
Ông kể rằng cha mẹ ông không lấy gì ưa thích khi ông chọn con đường văn thơ. Và ông bà càng căm ghét hơn khi người con trai lớn của họ từng quyết định chọn nghề sơn phết nhà cửa làm sự nghiệp. Ông Linh cho biết hai cha con như lửa với nước:
“Thực ra cha tôi và tôi chẳng giống nhau chút nào. Ổng không quan tâm tới văn học, và không ngưng la hét tôi từ 20 năm nay kể từ ngày tôi quyết định trở thành một nhà văn. Điều duy nhất tôi có thể làm là cúp phone mỗi khi ổng gọi.”

Full Article "Đinh Linh: Thi Văn Định Mệnh" »

Posted by Oneviet at 01:55 PM | Link | Comments (0)

Dao Strom

Author Dao Strom reads from her latest short stories The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys and sings songs from her album Send Me Home. http://www.daostrom.com
Date and time: Saturday, April 7, 2007 - 2:00-3:30 pm
Location: King Library, 150 E. San Fernando St., San Jose CA 95112 - Room 255/257

An excerpt from The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys:

… Almost always in her mind’s eye she sees him standing still, or she sees him about to move, or moving slowly. He had always seemed remarkably still and slow but deliberate--economical. As if this economy of movement signaled that he was saving up for some larger, grander endeavor sometime in his future. The way his eyes shifted to meet hers that first time in the dorm hallway has played back over and over in her mind's eye. She sees him standing at the end of sidewalks in spots on campus, waiting, looking remotely in her direction. She sees him walking over the rise of a hill in a memory that is not a memory of anything she actually witnessed. When she looks into campfires now she feels a looming sadness, at the back of which something like the ghost of her knowledge of him still walks about. Another vision involves looking at the moon with him somewhere quiet, desert like, and surreal: a dark blue night, a luminous white earth, a place they have never in this life gone to. The thought of ever meeting him again (of being able to live a life actually loving him) involves, inexplicably, a vision of lying curled together on a hillside, like sleeping goats, refusing to ever get up or go back into town.
What is this town? What does the hillside mean? There is still no explaining it for her. Time, she thinks, is unrelenting…”

Posted by Oneviet at 04:55 PM | Link | Comments (0)