People may have never set foot in Korea but are familiar with the winter alleys in director Shin Won-ho's "Reply 1988". Some have never been to Japan but have the feeling of the land of the rising sun through Hayao Miyazaki's films, or a Tokyo full of emotion through Makoto Shinkai's animation. Many tourists come to New Zealand just to touch the land that once appeared in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".
The interesting thing is that cinema and cultural festivals are often seen as soft values, but sometimes they are a much stronger national positioning tool than expensive promotion campaigns. Because in the era of globalization, people not only choose one country to invest in or travel to. People also choose places that make them feel emotionally connected. And cinema is the shortest bridge leading to that.
When cinema becomes the nation's "emotional passport
For decades, Hollywood has not only sold movies but also sold American dreams. Bright boulevards, Western bars, endless highways or the image of "American heroes" have become global cultural identities. Many people know America before they understand America, through cinema.
South Korea is a more typical example of turning popular culture into national soft power. Before the Hallyu wave, the image of South Korea in the eyes of many Asians was once quite faint. But in just over two decades, music, cinema and television dramas have completely changed that. After the success of "Parasite" at the Oscars, the world is not only mentioning a film victory. People are starting to be curious about Korean society, about Seoul's urban structure, about class pressure, about family culture and Korean cuisine.
A film that has opened up interest for a whole nation
That is the special thing about cinema. It does not promote in a direct way. It makes the audience voluntarily step into the cultural world of a nation through harmony. Viewers may forget a tourism slogan, but it is very difficult to forget the feeling that a film brings.
A festival not just for awards
If cinema is a door connecting emotions, then cultural festivals and film festivals are where that country "performs its identity" in front of the world. Few people thought that the Cannes Film Festival could contribute to creating an image of elegant, artistic and culturally rich France for decades. But in fact, Cannes has never been just a film event. It is a place where fashion, art, cinema, media and tourism blend together to create a complete French cultural experience.
Similarly, the Busan International Film Festival was once just an Asian youth film festival. But with a long-term strategy, South Korea has turned Busan into an "Asian film rendezvous", where international filmmakers come not only to screen films but also to feel the creative energy of this country.
A successful festival does not simply lie in the number of guests or the red carpet. It lies in what the world remembers about the host country after that event.
That is why many countries invest in cinema and festivals not for direct profit, but for long-term brand value.
Cultural brand cannot be built with slogans
A common mistake of many developing countries is wanting to build a "national brand" with short-term promotion campaigns. But cultural brands have never been created from slogans, but are created by repeated cultural experiences long enough to form global collective memories.
Japan does not need to talk too much about minimalism. The world feels it through architecture, tea ceremony, cinematic moments and even how they organize living spaces.
A strong cultural brand always has three factors: clear locality, the ability to touch universal emotions and persistent investment over many years.
It is worth mentioning that the local factor is becoming increasingly important in the era of globalization. The success of Korean or Iranian cinema does not lie in imitating the West, but in telling their own stories in modern cinematic language.
Vietnam's potential and resilience
Vietnam is not short of materials to build a national cultural brand. We have history, deep memories, a special urban life, and very strong cinematic regions. From old Hanoi with subsidy-era apartment complexes, small alleys full of layers of memories, to the Mekong Delta or cities undergoing dramatic transformation, all contain great storytelling potential.
Vietnamese cinema is actually not lacking in works that have the ability to "position cultural memories". "The scent of green papaya" once made many international audiences imagine Vietnam through the green of the garden, the humane feelings between people and the quiet beauty of the East.
Later, "Yellow Flowers on Green Grass" again evoked a different Vietnam, peaceful, pure and poetic, to the point that many landmarks in Phu Yen became tourist destinations sought after after after the movie. "Radiant Ashes" impresses with the melancholic and haunting atmosphere of the Mekong Delta with the desire for happiness of women...
But what Vietnam still lacks is a long-term connection between cinema, festivals, tourism and national cultural strategies. We have many regional festivals or international film festivals that are trying to shape themselves, but what Vietnam still lacks is a long-term strategy to turn them into its own "Busan" or "Cannes", where cinema, festivals and tourism come together to create a brand boost.
The strongest cultural brands are often not created by purely commercial calculations, but are created by artists who are patient and skillful enough to tell about the people and memories of their nation. A good movie is sometimes like a letter sent to the world. A cultural festival is like a meeting where that nation introduces itself with emotions, with images instead of speeches.
And in an era where countries compete not only by economy but also by the ability to create cultural influence, cinema and festivals are becoming an increasingly important "soft power". The important thing is that Vietnam needs to believe in its own story. Because today's world is not lacking in special effects, not lacking in beautiful images, but lacking in emotional, soulful stories.
