Words and photos by Luke Digweed
A floor-by-floor guide to a cool & iconic Saigon landmark
Packed with cool places to hang out, meet up, socialize, bring a date or do some work, the characterful, crumbling, nine-storey apartment block at 42 Nguyễn Huệ Street, in downtown Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), is a vertical chocolate box of independent cafes, fashion boutiques, bars, coworking spaces and international restaurants. Known as the Cafe Apartment, the building functions like a library of stylish haunts: visitors can browse each floor, checking out the décor of each space, before deciding which one to settle into. You could spend an entire day exploring the Cafe Apartment, wandering from floor to floor, up the twisting stone staircase, along the tiled corridors, ducking into any of the businesses that take your fancy. Photogenic, trendy and abuzz with the city’s youth, this old Saigon edifice is reborn. But the building, which is an attraction in itself, sits on prime real estate and has been threatened with demolition. Constructed in the middle of the 20thcentury, it housed government personnel, US military advisors, naval officers and shipyard workers at various points in its history. Today, the popularity of the Cafe Apartment is probably the only thing that stands in the way of it being torn down for a new development. […]
More: The Cafe Apartment
In Uganda, a new sport is driving social change. It is boosting school attendance and providing a unique space for girls and boys to play side-by-side. The sport is quidditch, and the small rural village of Katwadde is about to host the country’s first-ever national tournament. Read more about the making of the film here:
atlasobscura.com/articles/harry-potter-quidditch-uganda
Featuring
John Ssentamu
Vicky Edith Nabbanja
Esther Nalubowa
Richard Lutaya
Abdul Mugenyi
Fausta Tumusiime
Wycliffe Ssemugwe
The Katwadde Village community
Directed by
Ben Garfield
Produced by
Kristina Budelis
Doug Baldinger
Co-producer
Kyaligamba Ark Martin
Executive Producers
Doug Baldinger
Chris Naka
Ansh Vohra
Director of Photography
Megan Eleanor Clark
Editors
Pawel Slawek
Ben Garfield
Ansh Vohra
Sound Recordist
Willis Abuto
Written by
Ben Garfield
1st AC
Kino Musoke
2nd AC
Kizza Teflon Moses
Drone Operator
Kasujja Asaph
Sound Design and Mix
Hansdale Hsu
Colorist
Finlay Reid
Associate Producer
Danny Lunden
Crew Driver
Kisitu Brian
Security Advisor
Johann Wehrmann
Additional Cinematography
Kino Musoke
Kizza Teflon Moses
Kristina Budelis
Additional footage (How to Play Quidditch)
Tufts University Quidditch
Consulting Producer
Cathryne Czubeck
For Atlas Obscura
Director of Production – Linda Llobell
Director of Finance – Michael Harshman
Graphics
Ansh Vohra
Songs
Daouda – Stereoscopic African Grooves
Native Dance – Bosworth Archive Series
Things Left Unsaid – Soulful African Cello
Rainforest Vibes – Cyclic Underscores
Go Soft – Soulful African Cello
African Nights – GUM Collection Afro Beats Vol.1
Ouagabeats – Stereoscopic African Grooves
Impulses – KMP Classic Minimalism
[…]
