Cinema, at its deepest level, has never been just the art of storytelling. It is the art of preserving the atmosphere of a nation. And in the journey of bringing Vietnamese culture to the world today, cinema is gradually becoming a special form of "soft diplomacy", where the national image is introduced through emotional connection through impressive images.
But cinema cannot go alone. To see those cultural slices, to decipher them and to spread them beyond cinemas, the press plays the role of a "second storyteller". It is the press that helps cinema have a longer life than screenings and film festival seasons.
When cinema becomes soft power
For many years, Vietnamese cinema has often been seen mainly as a domestic entertainment industry. Success is measured by box office revenue, number of tickets sold or the popularity of actors. But in recent years, that approach has changed.
The strategy for developing Vietnamese cinema to 2030 is identified by the Government as part of the cultural industry. UNESCO also recognizes cinema as a creative field capable of promoting urban development and national identity.
Ho Chi Minh City becoming the first city in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to join UNESCO's Network of Creative Cities in the field of cinema is a very noteworthy milestone. This event is not only symbolic for the film industry, but also shows that Vietnamese cinema is being seen as a cultural asset with the ability to create international influence.
The important thing is that soft power does not come from the fact that a country says it is attractive, but from the fact that others feel it through culture.
South Korea once did that with cinema and music. France maintains its influence with art cinema and a long-standing film festival system.
Vietnam, although arriving later, is also entering that journey.
International audiences can watch hundreds of similar films, but they do not easily encounter details associated with Vietnamese culture - Eastern culture, from collective rhythm, multi-generational family culture, the feeling of both crampedness and cohesion of the city, or the silence in the way people endure hurt.
Vietnamese cinema is strongest when it tells stories that only Vietnam can tell.
Journalism extends the life of cinema
If cinema creates images, then journalism helps those images to be read and understood. A good film criticism not only says the film is good or bad. It explains why an image moves viewers, why a everyday detail carries a cultural weight, or why a film can reflect the psychology of a whole generation.
In many cases, the press also plays the role of a bridge between cinema and the international public.
When international newspapers write about the beauty of Hoi An through Vietnamese films, when film magazines analyze how Hanoi appears on screen as a special urban memory, or when articles about the Vietnam War shift their focus from history to human fate, Vietnamese cinema begins to have a "global life".
It is here that journalism is no longer just an information tool but has become a part of cultural diplomacy. In the digital age, a profound criticism, a cross-border conversation can make millions of people curious about the country behind that film.
When Vietnamese culture goes out into the world with very small things
There is an interesting paradox in global cinema today. The more you try to become "international" in a non-national style, the more many films are easily forgotten. Meanwhile, works that are remembered internationally are often films that clearly retain local identity.
Audiences come to Iranian cinema to understand Iranian society. They watch Japanese cinema to feel the Japanese spirit. They find Italy in films by directors Fellini or Sorrentino.
And they will only remember Vietnamese cinema when they see Vietnam in it. Those are the moments of silence between generations in the family. It is the feeling of precariousness of young people in modern urban areas. It is the memory of war remaining in daily life. It is the old apartment buildings standing in the midst of the rapid development of the city.
Interestingly, many factors that seemed normal to Vietnamese people have become special to international audiences.
In recent years, Vietnam has continuously organized film weeks, film and tourism promotion programs abroad and participated in many international film festivals, showing that Vietnam wants to position cinema as part of a national brand.
Today, tourists often decide to go to a country after watching a movie. A filming location can become a tourist destination. A beautiful film image can create a much stronger media effect than traditional promotional campaigns.
A country can develop quickly economically but still finds it difficult to create international sympathy without a strong enough cultural identity. Cinema is where that identity becomes tangible. It shows the world how much Vietnamese people love, endure, hurt and hope. It is no coincidence that many great directors in the world are seen as "cultural ambassadors" of their countries.
Enough depth to accompany
However, for many years, entertainment media in Vietnam has often paid too much attention to revenue, scandals, artists' private lives or short-term debates.
This sometimes makes cinema seen as a pure consumer product. While in many major film industries, the press in the cultural field plays a very important role in building artistic discourse.
A serious film criticism can expand the life of the work for many more years. A profound cultural dialogue can make the public see cinema with different eyes. Vietnam today is not lacking young filmmakers with personality. What is lacking is a critical and journalistic ecosystem in the cultural field that is deep enough to accompany.
Because if cinema is a place to create a national image, then journalism is the filter that shapes how the world understands that image. In the digital age, the national brand is nurtured every day by music, social networks and media. A country must tell its own story, and cinema is the ambassador with the most powerful voice. More importantly, Vietnamese cinema must clearly carry the breath, fingerprints and unique identity of Vietnamese people. At that time, Vietnam will appear as a cultural space capable of touching global emotions.
