Vietnam Arrests 7 Suspects Behind Streaming Site HiAnime on Piracy Charges
As part of the current crackdown on intellectual property infringement, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security recently took down a major network of websites providing illegal anime streaming.
Dropping the Disguise: The Evolution of Punk Band Cút Lộn Towards More Radicality
In recent years, CÚT LỘN has cemented themselves as one of the most recognizable hardcore punk bands to emerge from the Vietnamese underground scene.
From TikTok to Bars, a Group of Young Artists Brings Đờn Ca Tài Tử to Unexpected Venues
“If you happen to pass by Huỳnh Mẫn Đạt Street in Hồ Chí Minh City There’s a strange bar with a Mekong theme Where cải lươ...
Khôi Phạm in Culture
Home Is Where the Bum Gun Is
In the 2010s, my journey to study abroad took me to Singapore. Being a tiny person in an enormous city was a huge undertaking for a teenager, as I had to adapt to countless changes, from minute to major, at once: living in a different language, academic pressures, foreign customs and cuisines, and being away from my family. Gradually, things fell into place. The public transport worked well; the accent got more familiar; and I didn’t miss bánh mì and cơm tấm nearly as much as I thought I would; but there was one thing I never managed to entirely overcome — the bum gun-shaped void in my heart.
Review: From Czechia, ‘Trường Hè, 2001’ Bridges Family Divides, Both Onscreen and in Real Life
Summer School, 2001, directed by Czech-Vietnamese writer and director Dužan Duong, was first released last year and has received critical acclaim within the Czech Republic and Europe. Now, the film has come to Vietnam, where it is available in Galaxy, Cinestar, and Beta theaters across Saigon, Hanoi and Đà Nẵng.
Family-Friendly Summer Vacations Made Easy at Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc Starbay
The ripening of sweet jackfruit, mangosteen and mangos; hammocks swinging gently in patches of cool shade; and evenings that stretch on with the comfort of knowing there is no alarm clock waiting the next morning: summer arrives as opportunity. When school holidays begin, families scramble to adjust schedules and secure care and activities, creating the potential to carve out some time for a vacation to savor fresh air, explore thrills, and simply bond as a family in a beautiful destination.
This Wedding Is Too Boring to Nhậu, Let's Put on Some Miền Tây Remix
While phasing in and out of sleep on a coach in the Mekong Delta, have you ever been jolted awake by the bouncing beats of a Vinahouse version of ‘Quê em mùa nước lũ’ (Flooding Season in My Hometown)? Or, a mindless TikTok scroll would bring up the catchy tune of ‘Lấy cây kim may đồ’ (Pass Me the Sewing Needle) that’s trending nationwide.
Indie Short Film 'Saigon Kiss' Is a Quintessential Saigon Queer Love Story
Is there a meet-cute more characteristically Saigon than a motorbike breakdown and subsequent friendly assist from a stranger?
[Photos] In Tom Blachford's Nightscapes, Tokyo Appears Like a Sci-Fi Dystopia
Australian photographer Tom Blachford has an eye for dystopian, futuristic aesthetics; he’s set it on Tokyo where he’s taken a series of photos depicting some of the city’s most ultramodern structures...
Paul Christiansen in Literature
In Rambutan Literary, a Home for Southeast Asian Voices From Around the Globe
This poem by Jenna Le appears in issue five of Rambutan Literary and serves as a prime example of the graceful, poignant material that spans its first five issues. Founded in 2016, the magazine featur...
[Video] At a Hero's Tomb, Vibrant Vietnamese Opera Mesmerizes Passersby
The first full moon of the lunar year is a big deal for Saigon’s Chinese community.
Mike Tyson Stars in Hong Kong Comedy About Female Friendship Set in Vietnam
Get this: apparently Mike Tyson was in Vietnam to film his part in a Hong Kong action comedy. What?
Paul Christiansen in Literature
A Vietnamese-American Poet's First Return to Vietnam After Half a Century
The barking of a nearby dog forced Hoa Nguyen to pause mid-stanza. It was as if the canine was attempting to collaborate with her poem, a fitting start to the Year of the Dog. This young year saw the ...
Tam Le in Arts & Culture
[Photos] In Saigon's Labyrinth of Alleys, Textures and Typographies Galore
Saigon, like New York or Tokyo, is a city renowned for its crowds—the chaotic jostling of people pressing past other people that occurs whenever millions of lives inhabit the same few square meters. T...
Thich Nhat Hanh Documentary to Open in Vietnam Theaters This March
The documentary about the life and work of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh will open in his home country in March.
In Vietnam's Contemporary Horror Flicks Lives a Specter of Past Hauntings
About half-way through The Housemaid (Co Hau Gai) I felt an odd sensation. It wasn’t from the gore and panic on display in this horror film but from the fact that not once had there been an overt ment...
Khoi Pham in Culture
The Legends of Tam Nương: Why You Shouldn't Start a Business on the 7th Day of Tet
There’s little doubt that superstition is still deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. These silvery threads of mysticism are woven into a plethora of aspects of locals’ daily lives, ranging from rather...
Khoi Pham in Culture
[Illustrations] How Tet Traditions in Saigon and Hanoi Differ, From Booze to Bánh
How one’s family celebrates Tet can reveal a lot about where they hail from.
Paul Christiansen in Arts & Culture
Local Illustrator Breathes New Life Into Vietnam's Classic Folk Paintings
Illustrator Nguyen Xuan Lam’s project revamps 20 Vietnamese folk paintings through modern graphic design techniques.
Paul Christiansen in Film & TV
Oscar-Winning Screenwriter to Adapt Horror Flick 'Co Hau Gai' for Hollywood
Geoffrey Fletcher, whose screenplay for the Lee Daniels-directed movie Precious won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2010, will adopt Vietnam's 2016 horror flick Co Hau Gai (The Hous...
Other Intimacies: Photography Display Highlights Reflections on Living With Autism
For one week in late January, the group exhibition “Encounters: Reflections into the spaces surrounding families living with autism" transformed the top floor of the Vietnamese Women's Museum in Hanoi...
[Video] Crafting Altar Brassware in Saigon's Storied Lư Đồng Village
As Tet nears, families all over Vietnam are rushing to decorate their homes and check-off the last few items on their spring cleaning list, such as curtains, glassware, and most importantly, brass hom...
Saigoneer Podcast: U-23 Pride, Bubble Tea Madness, and the Saigon Heat
The Saigoneer Podcast is officially one month old!
Khoi Pham in Arts & Culture
Ve Ve Hat Boi: Saving Vietnam’s Age-Old Art With Youthful Passion
Obsolescence is not a problem unique to Vietnam’s traditional art forms. All over the world – in Cambodia, Bangladesh, and India, for example – ancient crafts are going out of fashion faster than they...
Introducing Nổi, a Live Music Project by Saigoneer and Digipost
There’s little doubt that here at Saigoneer, we’re big fans of Vietnam’s indie acts; just see how we geeked out over Ca Hoi Hoang almost a year ago.
Almost Noble: A Review of 'Punji Trap'
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen’s breakthrough 2015 novel, is a fictional tale of a North Vietnamese spy working inside the South Vietnamese army during the last legs of the American War. Duality a...
Saigoneer Podcast: Grab & Uber, Indie Music and Modernist Architecture
The third episode of the Saigoneer Podcast is available now!
Khoi Pham in Arts & Culture
Kato Sakae and 34 Years of Translating Vietnamese Literature Into Japanese
There’s little doubt that Vietnam is enchanted by Japanese culture. From sushi restaurants to anime to the works of Japanese novelists like Haruki Murakami and Kenzaburo Oe, cultural imports are welco...
