Paul Christiansen

in Literature

How Nam Cao Almost Ruined My Favorite Canal Cafe

Spoilers for an 80-year-old story that every student in the nation is required to read: the dog dies, the old man dies, his son's misfortunes show no sign of abetting. Simply, misery abounds at the end of ‘Lão Hạc.’

Paul Christiansen

in In Plain Sight

On a Boat Ride Through Nhiêu Lộc Canal, a Fish's-Eye View of Saigon

Could your life in Saigon be made into a quirky indie film? 

in Music & Arts

Galuocad's Artworks Create a Universe of Very-Vietnamese Whimsy

Staying in one place for an extended period can lead to what's known as the "boiled frog effect."

in Loạt Soạt

A World of Riveting Medically Inspired Magic in Vanessa Le's YA Debut

Captured by Butchers, the “blackmarket bogey men who deal in rare goods,” Nhika Suonyasan is caged and auctioned off to the city’s elite. A figure in a fox mask attempting to purchase her is outbid by a rich family that carts her off to a mansion that boasts luxury beyond anything Nhika has ever seen. The family immediately commands her to heal a witness to the wealthy patriarch’s death.

in Music & Arts

Lemaire's Campaigns Blend Vietnam's Street Scenes, French Fashion

Stuck in traffic on a Honda Cub, but make it fashion.

in Film & TV

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?

in Culture

In Ê-đê Villages, Bến Nước Is the Heart Pumping Water Across the Community

Ever since the beginning of time, Ê-đê people have treated water as a respected resource of the community. Water, in their belief, is the life force bringing about bountiful harvests for the villages.

in Music & Arts

Nam Jam Festival Returns to Đà Nẵng With Week of Mural Arts

The Nam Jam Festival from March 4 to 10 invites more than 50 local and international street artists to create massive works of street art in Đà Nẵng. 

Back Arts & Culture

in Music & Arts

The Ethereal Fever Dream Inside MV 'Dung Họa' by Hanoi Indie Duo Limebócx

After years in production, Hanoi indie duo Limebócx’s long-awaited music video for ‘Dung Họa’ was finally released this month, a much-needed treat for fans who have waited years for new music from the...

in Culture

Local Studio's Animated Short Gives Adorable Crash Course on Vietnam's Spiritualism

Putting up offerings on the altar, burning votive money, and lighting incense: these are just some rituals that every Vietnamese is probably familiar with during Tết or even on special occasions. A lo...

Khôi Phạm

in Literature

From Architecture to Folklore: 5 Indie Book Projects for Vietnamese Culture Buffs

In our years of writing about Vietnam, Saigoneer has had the pleasure to meet many passionate, inquisitive individuals whose creative and academic projects inspired us to appreciate the many facets of...

in Music & Arts

On Its 12th Birthday, a Brief History of Hanoi Rock City, a Bastion of the Indie Spirit

Hanoi Rock City (HRC) is even more than a household name for the youth of Hanoi, especially anyone who’s fond of the “Rock n Roll” culture. Twelve years after its founding, HRC has become a special cu...

in Music & Arts

New Board Game Set Puts an Aesthetic Feline Touch on Bầu Cua Tôm Cá

In two weeks’ time, we can temporarily put down our laptops, shut away documents, and set up holiday auto-replies to slip into a bánh chưng-induced coma for a week.

in Music & Arts

Vietnamese Historical Gay Romance Wins Bronze at Japan International Manga Award

A gay-themed comic from Vietnam recently won a bronze award at the Japan International Manga Award.

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer's Favorite Original Photography of 2022

If our Saigoneer moments in 2021 were marred by catastrophes and heart-breaking departures, 2022 has been a year of rediscovery and picking ourselves up.

in Arts & Culture

Khô Mực Studio Releases Surreal Calendar Featuring Art From 12 Local Artists

For the 2023 calendar, 'Robots vs. Flowers,' twelve young Vietnamese artists were each given a month and tasked with creating an image responding to the question: "Can technology and nature survive to...

in Culture

Learning About Life and Death From the Stories of Funeral Directors in Vietnam

Sitting down with Hương Thủy and Đức Thịnh, I was able to listen to a plethora of fascinating anecdotes about Vietnam’s funerary practices.

in In Plain Sight

Amid Phố Cổ, the Unassuming Cultural Exchange Center Tells Stories of Hanoi's Heartland

In the heart of the Old Quarter, the Hanoi Cultural Exchange Center carries a rich repertoire of knowledge and stories of the city’s architecture and history.

in Film & TV

'Tro Tàn Rực Rỡ' Wins Top Prize at Film Festival in France

Recently, Tro Tàn Rực Rỡ (Glorious Ashes), a Vietnamese film directed by Bùi Thạc Chuyên, was awarded the highest honor at the Nantes Festival of Three Continents.

Khôi Phạm

in Music & Arts

Two Decades of Women's Vintage Fashion in Saigon, as Illustrated by a Young Hanoian

In conversations surrounding Vietnam’s fashion history, it’s impossible not to discuss áo dài and its many iterations across the eras as symbols of Vietnamese femininity, but it would be amiss to leav...

in Quãng 8

Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective's Only Rule in Music Is Having No Rule

To write any music interview, my formula is quite simple: start with the story of how they got into music, followed by their critical opinions on the field. There will always be a narrative that the m...

in Music & Arts

Vintage Music Compilation 'Saigon Supersound' Releases 3rd and Final Volume

Since Saigon Supersound presented its first volume back in 2017, the anthology of vintage Vietnamese music has become a household name for fans, both in and out of Vietnam, with a penchant for tunes f...

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

The Fraught Human-Earth Dynamics in 'Revenge of Gaia,' a Collection of Vietnamese Eco-Fiction

Stories focusing on the natural world and humanity’s relationships with the environment existed before the term eco-literature became popular in the west in the 1970s, but since its coinage, writers a...

in Music & Arts

How Young Artists Are Bringing Mural Arts to Schools in Rural Vietnam

On their fifth journey off the beaten paths, Tô Đậm is heading to the highland of Ma Bó, Lâm Đồng Province for a new season of lessons, stories, and adventures previously unfolded.

in Film & TV

HBO Adaptation of 'The Sympathizer' Casts Kiều Chinh, MC Kỳ Duyên, Sandra Oh

Hollywood stars Sandra Oh and Robert Downey Jr. are joined by a number of diasporic Vietnamese actors for the anticipated HBO adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sy...

in In Plain Sight

Hanoi's Literature Museum Is Not Neglected, but It's Not Thriving Either

From the side road of Âu Cơ Street, I turned into ngõ 275.

Khôi Phạm

in Quãng 8

Hồ Trâm Anh Writes Music for Those Who Walk City Streets Yearning for the Open Sky

When I begin my interview with Hồ Trâm Anh, a light shower starts sprinkling over Saigon’s overcast maudlin sky. I apologize if any errant pitter-patter might distract our call, but Trâm Anh brushes i...

in Music & Arts

Q&A: Nguyễn Quí Đức on Tadioto, Zone 9, and How He Fell for Hanoi's Charms

Countless are the number of hours Hanoi creatives have spent sipping whisky and contemplating the world at the famous drinking hole that is Tadioto.