RECENT & NOTABLE PRESS Luang Prabang, Lao PDR ceening ae ne in he ci "Ha,ing a m ha i nihed in 2020 i a ae- backdopped b ancien Bd nie e.peience- a Chonie Piia- dhi empe b he fac ha he dieco of kOsOng The adience of e,en i going foad a a in 2020 i a Sohea Aia i one of he eaon h eamen o he conideabe he of e made he m I am gad ha he L i oganie ang Pabang Fim Fe,a i gi,ing i be eo o connec m m o i adi The L��ang Pabang Fim Fe,a- a Lao A of he m in Lang Pabang' 2020 ence" baed boe e,en hocaing eecon i be eamed fee of chage emeging cinemac ,oice fom Soh o ,iee in Bnei- Cambodia- Indone In addion o he ocia eecon- L ea Aia- ha n,eied an ambio ia- Lao- Maaia- Manma- he Phiip ang Pabang ao i eam a enea inep depie being foced o hi i ac pine- Singapoe- Thaiand- and Vienam anni,ea and caed "Fom he A ,ie ene onine in epone o he no ma fea conideing he compi chi,e-" hich i highigh din no,e coona,i pandemic caed aa of egiona diibon igh gihed m fom pa edion of he ha fe,a oganie had o nange fe,a The fe,a- hich ceebae i enh anni,ea hi ea- i ceen 24 fea In hei eecon annoncemen- Lang Said Lang Pabang' fe,a dieco e and 10 ho- incding he ci Pabang' pogamme highighed ha Sean Chade: "We'e eknon fo ca accaimed hman acking hie 12 of he m hocaed ae b omen binging adience o a m fe,a in an Buoyancy and Thai dama Manta Ray- mmake- eigh b me dieco- ancien on iho a mo,ie heae abo he pigh of Rohinga efgee and hee fom Lao mmake- each a Thi ea- e can' bing he adience- fom Manma The fe,a n Dec 4 ecipien of he Lang Pabang Fim Fe o e'e aking he fe,a o hem" Dec 10 ,a' on Lao Fimmake Fnd The e,en i ao ho he Sohea Aian The fe,a' eaming paom i be Rega Lang Pabang fe,a aendee pemiee of he Indoneian animaed acceibe a pmfeog ang Dec 4 i no dob be miing he e,en' docmena kOsOng- hich foo ,e nie amopheic hi ea hed in omen fom Ja,a and he pee and he Uneco Wod Heiage on of i e,eaon he face in i,ing a chide name- he fe,a age man of i ife (Ocial Selecon, cont.) 5Maa Ra7 6aka 5Kabe Rah7; 6Thai ad; 5Kabi0 7 6Thaiad; 5Mekg ::7 6Cabdia0 La0 Ma a0 Thaiad0 Viea; 5Me Maaai7 6Maaia; 5Mi7 6Maa; 5Mf7 6Maaia; 5Ode Nhig7 6aka 5Oda a Waa; 6Phiiie; 5R7 6Viea; The La��baed Lag Pabag Fi Fe eee a chage f e3 a ha e a eec ha fce The ie icde b ,e 5Sage4 He7 6Maa; g f Sh Ea Aia0 ake0 eigh b e ,ee ade i ab he egi3 N, ake0 ad hee La 0 each e a 5The Cck2 Sii A,akeig7 6Cab eeig i eh edi0 he idee ei eciie f LPFF4 La Fiak dia; de fea ,i be hed f ie hi e Fd2 5Eia Dae71 Mae D4 ea ad Dec3 :0 ::3 5The Lg Wak07 ad 5I he Shad,37 5The Lg Wak7 6La; A ,i be ceeed fee f chage0 Lag Pabag Fi Fea :: Ocia 5The Tee He7 6Viea; ,ih eaig acce eed ie,e Seec i Bei0 Cabdia0 Ideia0 La0 5Tia Made7 6Phiiie; Maaia0 Maa0 he Phiiie0 Si 5 Se f Ma7 6Ideia; gae0 Thaiad0 ad Viea3 5The Gi ad he G7 6aka 5Babae a 5We Sea7 6Sigae;3 The ie f feae ad : Bai; 6Phiiie; h icde 5Bac07 a Cabdia Aaia cai.ed acc f he h 5Be,ee he Dei ad he Dee Be a ackig i he egi4 ce Sea7 6Ideia; cia hig id0 ad ca Thai 5Maa Ra7 ,hich che he 5Bac7 6Aaia; Rhiga be0 ide ad diace e3 5Ceae7 6Phiiie; The fea a gie Ideia ai 5Ed,ad7 6Phiiie; aed dcea 5kOOg7 i Sh ea Aia eiee3 The f, e 5Eia Dae7 6La; ,e f Jaa ad he ee ad eea he face i iig a chide 5Jh Dee Tedig7 6Phiiie; ife3 Ah Che4 5We Sea7 daa ab ab eahi i Sigae 5kOOg7 6Ideia; characters homecoming in the middle of a deadly global pandemic. He learns that his sickly mother has a rare antibody in her system, and has become the focus of a bitter tussle between his siblings, who wish to sell her blood to a foreign com­ pany. Keola smartly maneuvers from di­ rect criticism of the powers that be through allegory to avoid any censorship. More obvious is "The Forgotten Voices of the Mekong" (Burma, Sai Naw Kham), which examines the efforts of a newly From "Soul River" (2020), dir. Kulikar Sotho. elected village chief to bring modern de­ velopments to his impoverished town. The longest river in Southeast Asia, the developing the country, Klangs anguished While a local elder Grandma is vocal in Mekong starts in the Chinese highlands retort is: Development? Where? I dont her mistrust of the mining company that and runs through six countries in all. It see it! wishes to encroach on their community, sustains both richly bio­diverse ecosys­ shes overruled by the rest, convinced by tems and the livelihood of over 60 million The traumatic extraction of value is seen Charlies promises of a comfortable fu­ people. Now, the Mekong is on the verge more obliquely in "The Che ture. Shot naturalistically, the quiet har­ of complete ecological collapse. Faced Brother" (Laos, Anysay Keola). In an mony of the elder growing herbs and with increasing strains from over­develop­ eerily prescient twist, it traces the title teaching a young boy their cultures an­ ment, the communities living in the lower Mekong region have to contend with envi­ ronmental destruction and fluctuating cli­ mate conditions. The possible futures for the river and those who depend on it are the focus of MEKONG 2030, a new anthol­ ogy produced by the Luang Prabang Film Festival. A bleakly humorous fable on greed and exploitation, "Soul River" (Cambodia, di­ rected by Kulikar Sotho) is dotted with shots of uprooted trees and turbulent wa­ ters created by the construction of dams. The displaced Klang lives in the ruins of his village after repeated floods have driven neighbors downstream. Forced to scavenge for survival, he is blackmailed into sharing the profit from a valuable statue he discovers. When told that the exploitation of the Mekong is crucial for From "The Che Brother" (2020), dir. Anysay Keola. of disparate nodes and subjectivities, and challenges the transactional, capitalistic view of the region. "The Unseen River," by Vietnamese film­ maker Phm Ngc Lân, is a romantic meditation on the cyclical nature of his­ tory. It follows a middle­aged woman searching upstream for her long­lost lover, while a young couple travels goes down­ stream seeking treatment for a strange ailment. The film situates the Mekong as an active subject; we frequently see the river and its accompanying landscape by itself, unmoored from human presence. From "Forgotten Voices of the Mekong" (2020), dir. Sai Naw Kham. Whatever the vicissitudes of human rela­ tions, the river is the only constant. In one cestral knowledge is juxtaposed with the has turned out. Meandering and thought­ scene, a monk shares how since his fam­ chiefs frazzled meetings with investors. ful, the film probes at how the Mekong ily drowned in a flood, he has seen them has been constructed through art and dis­ in his dreams. It is impossible to disentan­ The other two films are more abstract. In course. Tarikas film within the film ex­ gle the Mekong from the souls of those "The Line," by Thai filmmaker Anocha plores the Thai perception of time the who live with it. Suwichakornpong, the opening of an up­ flow of the river symbolizes how time can scale gallerys exhibition about the measure both space and transformation. MEKONG 2030s cynical futurism and eco­ Mekong is impeded when artist Tarika is The film envisions the Mekong as a con­ criticism is refreshing for its diversity of dissatisfied with how her video installation stellational body of knowledge, made up voices, as well as the solidarity it posits between the nations of the lower Mekong. Brimming with urgency, the anthology poses a necessary question with an immi­ nent deadline; now it is up to the world to answer. MEKONG 2030 screens as part of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (September 912), and the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival (November 25 through December 2). From "The Line" (2020), dir. Anocha Suwichakornpong. 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