“The lonely tree” - becoming popular after the release of “Mat biec”

Opportunities

The years 2019 and 2020 marked the attractions of Hue to the movie industry as many movies lensed in Hue have been welcomed by the viewers. Among these, “Gai gia lam chieu 3” (Royal Brides [3]) and “Mat biec” (Dreamy Eyes) have reached the revenues of 100 billion VND, and “Hoa no ve dem” (Night blossom) was sent to participate in Cannes Film Festival.

It is expected that this will be the first step to making Hue a city of prospective movie scenes. Director Victor Vu stated that the very distinctive cultural identity of Hue has attracted producers. Hue is certainly a potential city of the movie industry.

At the Innovation Day 2020, Director Tran Nguyen Bao Nhan evaluated the opportunities of cultural development from the angle of the development of motion pictures that Hue was perfectly suitable for the development of culture industry because it had its own distinctive traditional culture.

He said that Hue should be a niche market providing services and human resources for the movie industry. In addition to the setting, Hue could provide extras, script writing, production assistants, fashion, music, properties, design and accommodation services.

 “Gai gia lam chieu 5” (Royal Brides [5])was filmed in Hue

Bao Nhan added: “The movie product can bring the cultural and human values to the world and bring the economic values back to Hue. The window of opportunity is opening when producers of blockbuster projects with the investment of over 20 billion VND have considered having some of the scenes in their movies filmed in Hue. Hue is suitable for movies of the retro style with old fashions, a movie trend that is expected to return in the near future. That is the first strength to become a niche market for producers.”

Linkstar CEO Vu Trung Hiep, who has 20-year experience in organizing certain important serial events in Hue Festivals, said that Hue was capable of becoming a destination for events. What it needed was to innovate and diversify the themes of festivals and other types of events to become more attractive.

Hue also needed more spaces and modern complexes to be able to host film festivals and music live shows, and the local businesses could provide in situ tasks.

With strengths in cultural heritage and landscape, Hue has the opportunity to  become a city of the movie industry.

According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, the validation of the brand “Hue - The capital of Ao dai” has created a chance for the start-ups to join the process of producing, providing and promoting ao dai among the Vietnamese communities as well as international partners.

He added: “Hue had 4.9 million tourist arrivals in 2019. If 20% of these tourists spend 1 million VND on having ao dai tailored each, the estimated revenue will probably reach 900 billion VND. In conjunction with ao dai, the traditional handicraft and complementary essentials will be boosted. This is the way to develop the culture industry by doing business, generating employment, increasing the budget income, and at the same time, preserving and spreading the value of traditional culture.”

A need for strategies

In many countries in the world, the culture industry has been a “money-making” industry. Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea are examples of economies that emphasize developing the culture and creativity industries.

Director Bao Nhan showed the evidence that activities from entertainment, television and advertising contributed 85% of the GDP in Hong Kong between 2005 and 2018. The average revenue from story writing and publication and book souvenirs in Japan reached US$ 2 billion. In the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution, the culture industry has had numerous opportunities.

The treasure of recognized tangible and intangible cultural heritages, the festivals, the traditional handicraft, the traditional cuisine, and the natural environment and landscaping have brought Hue the potential for the development of culture industry. Recent activities such as establishing the brand for ao dai Hue, developing the ASEAN city of culture and effectively using the values of heritages and prestiges are evident that Hue is striving for the culture industry.

Dr. Phan Thanh Hai confirmed that Thua Thien Hue will develop a significant culture industry. The city will be rich in cultural heritages and well-known for its branding, and thus becoming a livable city. Developing the culture industry will yield competitive cultural products and services, generate stable employment and contribute to developing the economy and bringing Hue culture to the world.

To this end, it is necessary to make changes to the approaches to and viewpoints of culture, that is, cultural heritages should be seen as the resources for development.

“Investing in the development of the culture industry must be strategic for the sake of sustainability. In particular, there must be a set of formal institutions, human resources training, policy-making and flexibility. More importantly, culture and heritage must be respected and seen as the motivation for development as well as preservation. Promoting the local strengths of culture is also essential,” emphasized Dr. Phan Thanh Hai.

Story: Minh Hien

Photos: Trung Phan - Minh Hien