Hue Heritage - the attraction of cinema and tourism
Still remember more than 30 years ago, when the concept of cultural industry was still strange to many people, and the Complex of Hue Monuments had not yet been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage, Hue was already a destination for activities related to cultural industry.
The ancient capital of Hue has been chosen by international film production crews as the setting and studio for famous films, such as Indochina (1992). For Indochina, director Régis Wargnier chose Hue as the main setting for the film. This was the first foreign film to be filmed in the palaces and mausoleums of the Hue Monuments Complex. Indochina later won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1993. Following that were other famous foreign films that also had scenes filmed in Hue, such as The Lover (1992 ), The Quiet American (2002)... At that time, the event of Indochina winning the Oscar caused the number of European tourists, especially French tourists, to Hue to suddenly increase sharply.
The Hue Monuments System plays an important role in the development of cultural industry.
As the capital of the last two monarchies in Vietnam, a place with beautiful natural scenery, fascinating mountains and rivers, with ancient and romantic beauty, extremely rich cultural heritage... for many years, the ancient capital of Hue has become a land with strengths in developing cultural industry, entertainment industry, creativity and performing arts. Many Vietnamese films and television series also chose Hue as the space, setting, and studio to produce famous silver screen works such as The Girl on the River (1987), Do You Still Remember or Have You Forgotten (1992), The Royal Candle (2000), The Calm River (2005), The Moon at the Bottom of the Well (2008), You and Trinh (2020), The Old Girl 3 (2020)...
In 2019, the film Mat Biec by director Victor Vu was released, not only creating a stir at the box office nationwide, but also making many people and tourists know more about the beautiful scenery of the ancient capital, the poetic space of Thien An hill, a quiet Bao Vinh ancient town that seemed to have sunk into oblivion, or the lyrical scenery of a simple farming village on the outskirts of Hue with the very famous "lonely tree" that once created a trend on the internet...
Faced with the attraction of “Mat Biec”, the Department of Tourism of Thua Thien-Hue province at that time and the localities filmed in the film immediately came up with the idea of building sightseeing and tourism tours to serve tourists. Many places in Hue have attracted more domestic and international tourists thanks to their appearance in the film, such as Ha Cang village (Quang Dien district), Vong Canh hill, Khai Dinh tomb (old Hue city, now Thuan Hoa district), Hue Imperial Citadel relic, An Dinh palace, Phuoc Tich ancient village, Tu Duc tomb, Trinh tower (where musician Trinh Cong Son once lived and composed)...
New exploitation from heritage
Developing the Ao Dai industry contributes to preserving and spreading the value of Hue's cultural heritage, and brings economic value.
Hue is currently the only city in the country that owns 8 tangible and intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO (2 heritages shared with other localities); along with 1,000 historical relics. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, Chairman of Hue City People's Committee, Hue's cultural heritage values are a rich and wonderful resource for implementing local cultural industries.
Mr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Hue City, said that since 2020, the unit has implemented the project Hue - Capital of Vietnamese Ao Dai, with many rich contents. By the end of 2024, the knowledge of sewing and wearing Hue Ao Dai will become a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mr. Hai affirmed that designing and tailoring Ao Dai in Hue as well as many other places today is both a handicraft and a special creative design industry, creating impressive products with high popularity. The Ao Dai cultural industry in Hue is creating conditions for the development of other industries such as souvenirs, toys, accessories, cinema, fine arts, etc.
"The Ao Dai cultural industry is one of the sustainable development directions, creating jobs, bringing revenue to businesses, increasing people's income, while preserving and spreading the values of Hue's cultural heritage." Mr. Phan Thanh Hai
According to Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, the Center has long been concerned with finding ways to turn all heritages into values, assets, and economic resources, in the spirit of creativity and innovation in thinking without "taking advantage" of what is already there. If in 2019, the Center's revenue from heritage reached more than 387 billion VND, then by the end of 2024 it will increase to 420 billion VND. In addition to traditional revenue, the Center also has research and new ways to increase revenue, combined with sustainable heritage conservation.
Mr. Trung cited that even gifts and souvenirs in the Hue heritage site are also renewed according to design orders associated with unique patterns and motifs of the ancient royal court, or simulate valuable antiques and artifacts. Recently, the Center has promoted digital transformation, digitization, and identification of antiques and artifacts managed by the unit to determine copyright and exploit them into digital assets. Digitized and identified artifacts and antiques will be brought to the digital exhibition space, applying attractive technologies to attract the public, tourists, and customers around the world. From 3D scanning products to create F1 digital copies, combined with design innovations, rare antiques and artifacts of Hue Heritage will become gifts, souvenirs, and commercial products in the digital space ensuring compliance with legal regulations.
Talking about Hue when making the film "Mat Biec", director Victor Vu once exclaimed: "For me, the setting is the attraction of the film. When faced with the script for "Mat Biec", we considered many localities, provinces, and cities. In the end, Hue is still the most perfect location for "Mat Biec...".
“Nowadays in the world market, people sell digital versions with identifiers, without necessarily having to copy them as an entity. If there is a need to transfer them, the digitized and identified product always has full information about the owner, along with information about the value and history of the artifact. Through selling digital products, we can both communicate, promote, and introduce the heritage, culture, and history of our country, and earn money. That is suitable for the creative environment of the current cultural industry,” Mr. Hoang Viet Trung shared.
Ngoc Van
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