The UNESCO Heritage town of Luang Prabang in Laos will once again host a film festival, previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF).
With a rich history of connecting regional filmmakers, supporting the Lao domestic film industry, and presenting an annual free festival, LPFF has been a force in the region for more than 12 years.
Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for 8 – 11 December, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival.
As always, official selections for the annual program were made by filmmakers and critics from across Southeast Asia and represent a curated selection of the finest contemporary films from their respective countries. By working with talented curators with an inside understanding of their communities’ film scenes, LPFF annually presents a unique program that consistently delivers some of the strongest voices from across the region.
Presenting Partners of the festival this year include Lao Telecom, The Asia Foundation, M Money, and Beerlao; the event is produced in collaboration with the Luang Prabang Department of Culture, Information, and Tourism. Longtime partners Avani+ Luang Prabang and Sofitel Luang Prabang are supporting the event again, as well.
Of special interest this year is a pair of films with roots in the LPFF Talent Lab — both Martika Ramirez Escobar and Kavich Neang joined the inaugural lab in 2016, delivered in conjunction with the erstwhile Tribeca Film Institute. This year sees their finished projects, Leonor Will Never Die and White Building, respectively, on screens in Luang Prabang.
And a pair of Lao productions will premiere at the festival this year — Sonepasith Phanphila’s Absence of Sound, made in Luang Prabang itself, and Phanumad Disattha’s short film, Fly Sandy Fly, presented by T Plus during the festival’s opening ceremony, which starts at 6 pm on 8 December.
As always, all screenings are free and open to the public.
