HCM CITY — HCM City is seeking to turn its rich heritage and cultural resources into cinematic stories, using its new status as a UNESCO Creative City of Film to strengthen links between heritage preservation, filmmaking, tourism and the wider creative economy.

Joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network provides HCM City with opportunities to promote its heritage, cultural spaces and creative resources. 

However, turning these advantages into films with a broad reach requires closer links between research, production, distribution, tourism and international cooperation.

From heritage materials to stories on screen

HCM City boasts a rich system of tangible and intangible heritages, alongside an urban landscape and community life shaped through different historical periods. 

These provide a valuable source of material for cinema, while also offering a way to bring cultural values to the public through images and stories.

According to Meritorious Artist Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thúy, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Culture and Sports, UNESCO's recognition of the city as a Creative City of Film is both an honour and a responsibility to fulfil its commitments through concrete programmes and solutions. 

The value of the designation lies not only in international recognition but must also be reflected in substantive changes in the city's film activities and cultural life.

In this process, heritage can become a source of research and inspiration for filmmakers. 

Conversely, cinema can take heritage beyond archives and exhibition spaces to reach a wider audience, particularly young people. 

An engaging story on screen can spark interest in the history, landmarks, customs and cultural life associated with a film.

However, transforming cultural materials into cinematic images is not a simple process. 

The production of the film Hộ linh tráng sĩ – Bí ẩn mộ vua Đinh (Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret of the First Emperor) demonstrates that behind every historical frame lies a substantial amount of research and reconstruction.

According to Ngô Thị Bích Hạnh, a representative of the production company, recreating historical settings required the crew to study multiple layers of material relating to costumes, props, architecture, festivals, customs, rituals and folk life. 

Some details appear on screen for only a brief moment but require extensive research, cross-checking and painstaking reconstruction.

This reality shows that bringing heritage into cinema cannot simply mean choosing a historical subject or using a cultural site as a backdrop. 

The credibility of a film also depends on the reliability of its source material, reconstruction expertise and collaboration between filmmakers and researchers, artisans, designers and communities that preserve and practise the heritage.

Designer Sĩ Hoàng said the process must ensure both “accuracy” and “beauty”. 

Artistic creativity should be grounded in history and culture and avoid arbitrarily altering the essence of heritage, while finding ways of presenting it that suit the language of cinema and contemporary audiences.

This is where preservation and creativity meet. 

If heritage is kept only in archives or exhibition spaces, it may struggle to realise its full value in contemporary life. But when responsibly transformed into a cinematic story, heritage can continue to evoke emotions, encourage further exploration and inspire new forms of creativity.

The challenge, therefore, is not whether heritage should be brought to the screen, but how to establish a sufficiently robust process to ensure that films both respect the original values and appeal to audiences.

Expanding the space for cinema

To turn cultural resources into cinematic products, HCM City needs infrastructure, spaces and support services capable of meeting the demands of the entire creative process, from project development and filming to post-production and distribution.

According to Dr Nguyễn Thị Hậu, general secretary of the HCM City Historical Science Association, the city and southern region have numerous urban spaces, natural landscapes and social settings that can serve as “natural film studios”. 

This advantage allows film crews to make use of real-life locations while creating opportunities to showcase local architecture, culture and way of life through films.

However, existing landscapes are only one part of film infrastructure.

A film industry seeking sustainable development also needs studios, technical facilities, skilled professionals and production support services. 

Without these conditions, advantages in locations and cultural resources are not enough to attract domestic and international projects.

The expansion of cultural spaces in HCM City could create more room for cinema.

Nhà Rồng – Khánh Hội Port Park is being prepared for use, while the city is also planning a chain of cultural spaces along both banks of the Sài Gòn River. 

In addition to serving residents' cultural needs, these locations could host creative activities, exchanges, screenings and film events if appropriately planned and operated.

The next essential step is to connect resources that currently operate separately. 

Heritage provides the material; filmmakers transform it into works; infrastructure and services support production; cultural spaces bring the works to the public; and tourism further develops the appeal generated by stories and locations on screen.

When these links operate as a continuous chain, a film's value does not end when its theatrical run is over. 

Its locations, characters and stories can be developed into tourism products, educational activities, heritage experiences or other creative products. Revenue can also extend beyond the box office to related industries.

HCM City's membership of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network provides additional opportunities to advance this process on an international scale. 

According to Dr Phạm Thị Thanh Hường, head of Culture at the UNESCO Office in Hà Nội, the network offers access to a wide range of resources, not only financial resources but also expertise in production, technology, human resources, markets and supporting industries.

The city can explore co-production models, expand cooperation among filmmakers and facilitate the production of certain stages of international film projects in Việt Nam. 

Such cooperation would allow domestic professionals to gain access to advanced technology, production experience and higher professional standards, while creating more opportunities for Vietnamese films to reach new markets.

These requirements show that the Creative City of Film designation is not an end-point but the beginning of a process to reorganise cultural resources. 

Heritage needs to be approached as an asset capable of generating additional value through the creative process; cultural spaces need to be connected with production and audiences; and human resources need opportunities to access international technology, expertise and markets. — VNS