Twenty-three movies from nine countries will screen over eight days in the Luang Prabang Film Festival, running from December 4 to 11 in the historic former royal capital of Laos.Marking the 35th anniversary of the Lao PDR and Luang Prabang's 15th year on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, the free nighttime screenings will take place in outdoor venues.
Countries represented are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Among the lineup is Wonderful Town, the acclaimed 2008 debut feature film of Thai indie director Aditya Assarat.
There's also the Lao-Thai co-productions, Sabaidee Luang Prabang and director Sakchai Deenan's prequel made this year, Sabaidee 2: From Paxse With Love.
The late Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad will be paid tribute with a two-film package, Mukhsin and Talentime.
Festival founder and director Gabriel Kuperman notes that some countries have stronger representation than others.
The selection was made through the festival's Motion Picture Ambassadors program, in which filmmakers and film experts from each country were sought and encouraged to make suggestions about what films should be shown.
"From the list of films recommended to us, we chose the ones we thought best fit within our program to go on to the National Censorship Board," Kuperman explains. "However, even before that process, we contacted all of the distributors and filmmakers to see if they were interested in taking part in this project.
"Because we are a non-profit entity, with little funding, operating a developing country with little infrastructure for film, we asked the distributors to kindly both waive their screening fees and allow us to screen via DVD. Understandably, not all of the companies were able to do that, largely because of corporate restrictions. So, many films recommended to us became ineligible at that point. (This was the case with many of our Thai films, for example.) So, this factor, alongside the censorship issue which came to play in a few different countries where their films did not pass the Board, narrowed down the list of films able to be screened.
"This being said, I am quite pleased with the final films which will be shown in December. They represent the broad spectrum of quality creative filmmaking that is happening in the region."
2010 Luang Prabang Film Festival Program
Saturday, December 4
- 6:00pm – Opening Ceremony
- 7:00pm – Today is Better than Two Tomorrows (Laos)
- 9:00pm – Adrift (Vietnam)
Sunday, December 5
- 6:00pm – Sabaidee Luang Prabang (Laos)
- 8:00pm – The Maid (Singapore)
- 10:00pm – Karaoke (Malaysia)
Monday, December 6
- 6:00pm – Sabaidee 2: From Pakse with Love (Laos)
- 8:00pm – About My Father (Cambodia)
- 10:00pm – 18 Grams of Love (Singapore)
Tuesday, 7 December
- 6:00pm – Papadom (Malaysia)
- 8:00pm – The Photograph (Indonesia)
- 10:00pm – Adela (Philippines)
Wednesday, 8 December
- 6:00pm – When the Full Moon Rises (Malaysia)
- 8:00pm – Only Love (Laos)
- 10:00pm – At Stake (Indonesia)
Thursday, 9 December
- 6:00pm – Mukhsin (Malaysia)
- 8:00pm – Talentime (Malaysia)
- 10:00pm – Shadows of the Past (Myanmar)
Friday, 10 December
- 6:00pm – Bombhunters (Cambodia)
- 8:00pm – Love for Share (Indonesia)
- 10:00pm – Flower in the Pocket (Malaysia)
Saturday, 11 December
- 6:00pm – 881 (Singapore)
- 8:00pm – Wonderful Town (Thailand)
- 10:00pm – Little Heart (Vietnam)
The schedule is subject to change.
Sounds wonderful! Luang Prabang was easily my favorite city visited during my time in South-East Asia.
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