In September 2024, within the framework of the Vietnam Tourism - Cinema Promotion Program in San Francisco and Los Angeles (California, USA) chaired by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VHTTDL), photographer Tran Tuan Viet organized an exhibition called "Destination Vietnam", introducing 93 works reflecting the beauty of culture, tourism and the potential of Vietnam's cinema scene in Hollywood. Lao Dong Newspaper had a conversation with him about the journey of bringing Vietnam's beauty to the world's cinema capital.
Hello Tran Tuan Viet. How did the journey to bring your photographic works to the world's cinema capital begin?
- Around February 2024, I received an invitation to join the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in attending a tourism promotion event in the US. The photo exhibition is one of a series of events to promote the image of the country, people, and outstanding destinations of Vietnam to international friends in Hollywood.
The plan officially started in July. I had about 2 months to prepare, from selecting images, printing, arranging displays... This is a national exhibition, so everything must be reviewed as carefully as possible.
From the initial 150 photos, we selected 93 of the best and most suitable works. The selection process went through many rounds of selection and professional assessment from the Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition; the National Tourism Administration to partners in Hollywood...
What is the main content of the works in this exhibition, sir?
- 93 photos in the collection were taken by me over nearly 18 years, mainly including photos of the country's landscape, people, and culture of Vietnam. In addition to famous landmarks and destinations across the country, I also introduce many new places that Western visitors do not know much about, such as Da Lat, Tay Ninh, Ha Giang, or the Northwest region - places with great potential to become film studios, creating the backdrop for Hollywood blockbusters.
Each photo tells a separate story, is my brainchild and I put a lot of effort into making it.
With the works brought to the exhibition "Destination Vietnam", what view of Vietnam's image do you want to bring to international tourists?
- In the past, many people only had an impression of Vietnam with the two resistance wars against France and the US. I want to let the world know that Vietnam is now very peaceful, beautiful, with a wonderful cultural identity, with UNESCO-recognized landmarks and even places that are not known to many people.
Through the audience's views and reactions to the works in the exhibition, what do you think about the potential for developing Vietnamese film tourism with international visitors, especially in Hollywood?
- Hollywood movies have helped many places around the world gain attention, bringing huge profits to the tourism industry. I think Vietnam has full potential and advantages to do that.
After the recent Vietnam Tourism - Cinema Promotion Program, chaired by Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho An Phong and accompanying businesses such as Oxalis Adventure, Vietnam Airlines..., many famtrip groups and researchers of locations will come to Vietnam to survey and search for locations for films.
Hopefully in the future, Vietnam will appear on Hollywood screens more often. I think, with just a few Hollywood blockbusters, Vietnam's destinations will become famous, welcoming more domestic and foreign tourists.
In your opinion, what difficulties does Vietnam need to overcome to promote and develop film tourism?
- Previously, the procedures and licensing process for a film crew to come to Vietnam to film was lengthy, taking many months to complete. In recent years, the policy mechanism has been increasingly innovated. In the recent Tourism - Cinema Promotion Program, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has committed to streamlining these procedures for foreign partners to come to Vietnam, especially Hollywood.
The Vietnamese government also has many more support policies such as tax reduction, increased incentives for filmmakers, promoting digital transformation in administrative work; Vietnamese enterprises have committed to cooperate, support flights, accommodation; localities such as Ha Long, Ninh Binh, Quang Binh also committed to support if film crews come to them... Gradually, these will be very open doors to welcome film crews from around the world to Vietnam, contributing to promoting the development of Vietnamese film tourism.
Photographer Tran Tuan Viet was born in 1983 in Vinh city, Nghe An. He is famous for his photos of Vietnam published in magazines, photo books, and National Geographic yearbooks, winning many domestic and international photography awards.
(Posted in the special publication Lao Dong Xuan At Ty).
