Ho Chi Minh City to host 1st Francophone Comics Festival next week

The event is organized by the French Institute in Vietnam and the French Institute in Cambodia, in collaboration with The French Publishing Network France Livre, the Wallonie-Brussels Delegation, and key partners in the publishing industry from France, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The festival, 'Comics Without Borders,' will take place from 09:00 am to 6:00 pm on April 4 at Sofitel Saigon Plaza in Saigon Ward, featuring a full day of activities and exchanges with prominent figures in contemporary comics from multiple countries.

The day features a public program with exhibitions, creative workshops, book launches, and meet-and-greet sessions with international authors, alongside a broader creative ecosystem that includes animation studios and audiovisual players.

It also includes the Comic Market (B2B), inspired by the Paris Book Market, offering a platform for publishers and animation studios from Vietnam, Cambodia, and France to connect, exchange insights, and discuss copyrights deals, supporting the translation and cross-border circulation of works.

Highlights of the event are panel discussions, with one on 'Comics Without Borders' and featuring Clément Baloup, Marcelino Truong, Marguerite Abouet, Vincent Lefrançois, and Nguyen Thanh Phong, exploring comics as a universal language.

The discussion will highlight both the differences and similarities of comics across cultures.

It explores comics as a global language capable of transcending borders through the immediate power of images, bringing together authors from different countries to examine how the art is defined in each cultural context.

Admission to the 1st Francophone Comics Festival is free, with booths offering 10-20 percent discounts to visitors at the festival.