At the Vientianale film festival I had the opportunity to meet a few Lao filmmakers. I very much wanted to invite some of them to come to one of our classes and show their films to the students and have a Q&A session afterwards. One of the filmmakers I met was Bounthanh Phongphichid. He was also the official translator of the festival. Bounthanh is a multitalented man: a translator; filmmaker; teacher; writer, and now also a publisher as he has just come out with the first literary magazine in Laos. He has made a number of short documentaries in association with some NGOs. When I met him he had just finished his first feature, a narrative about teenagers and the problems of drinking and yaba (amphetamine) addiction, which is on the rise in Laos. Bounthan and I decided this would be a great film to show the students and get their feedback. Here is a little clip I made of the screening:

The screening was a raging success. Many students from the Institute came (and others,too) and we had a very informative discussion afterwards. Many thanks to Bounthanh for showing his film and for patiently translating the discussion. Here are some pics of the discussion: