The current state of the Hanoi Worker’s Theater, slated to open for the capital’s 1,000 the anniversary next year.

With 700 days to go until the Thang Long – Hanoi 1,000th Anniversary, the celebration’s director’s chair is still unfilled.

That means there is no one person in charge of overseeing all of the 80 affairs schedules for next year.

But Nguyen Khac Loi, deputy director of Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said there was no need for one central director as celebrations would take place throughout the country.

“There will not be a general director, instead we’ll have directors for each event around the country,” he said. “This is a collective program from north to south, so there is no need for a general director. We only need the National Steering Committee to supervise the events.”

Of the 80 performances, ceremonies and activities, the department has been assigned to organize 50 of which it has agreed to complete plans for the other 30 before the end of this month. The plans will then be evaluated for approval by a quality board under the committee.

Loi said he has invited many of the country’s leading entertainment writers and directors all over the nation to create each ceremony.

But many involved still think there needs to be one central person in charge of everything

In need of a captain

Nguyen Trong Tuan, deputy chief of the 1,000th Anniversary’s National Steering Committee, told online newspaper VietNamNet that the committee was still waiting for the right candidate to give the general directorship to. He said many famous directors experienced in organizing major festivals and events probably didn’t know much about the 1,000th Anniversary as information released had been sparse and ambiguous so far.

“The public has not been given a chance to understand the event yet,” Director Le Quy Duong told Thanh Nien Daily. “Directors like me haven’t been given a chance to contribute, even just a small part, to the largest celebration of our 1,000-year history,

“There has been no public forum for the public to voice their opinions on the matter and everyone seems to flinch from participating. Some are even afraid of their ideas being stolen. Maybe the producers have not cast the anniversary in the right light,” he said.

VietNamNet quoted director Pham Hoang Nam as saying it might be too late to choose a general director and that such a selection should have been made in the beginning of the planning process.

“It is really strange that there is no general director for such a big event,” he said. “They [organizers] ought to have a test to select the right director, but it is too late to talk about this ‘imaginary’ event. Nothing will come true if it is just based on dreams and ideas. Fundamentally, the event already lacks solidarity, professionalism and national pride.”

Other problems

This void appears to have manifested itself in several problems in the planning of the director-less event.

A major film project to celebrate the capital’s history, Thai to Ly Cong Uan (King Ly Cong Uan), has just been deemed infeasible and replaced by Chieu doi do (Proclaim to move the capital).

None of the artifacts for the archeological exhibit Gui toi mai sau (Sent to the Future Generation) have been chosen, while organizers had originally set the deadline for doing so in 2008.

The exhibit aims to show off 1,000 cultural artifacts from the last 1,000 years of Vietnamese history.

Organizers had originally said they would recreate a massive archeological dig and place the artifacts at the mock-up site as if they had just been dug up. But they had not taken into account the underground water systems in Hanoi’s museum quarter, where the event will take place, so they have had to cancel the unique presentation. An alternative has yet to be proposed.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien